Return of the Kiiroi Kitsune
by Sue-Drae
Summary: Sequel to A Chance to Change. Please read that first or you will get confused. Four years after Naruto and Hinata's wedding, Naruto prepares for the Akatsuki to make their first move... Again. Timetravel, NaruHina, SasuSaku, other pairings by vote
1. Chapter 1

A/N:

For those of you who don't know, this is the sequel to A Chance to Change. It takes place in the Shippuden years, so don't freak out or anything if I say someone's fifteen or sixteen :)

Enjoy!

I don't own Naruto Shippuden.

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><p>~Four Years Later~<p>

I woke up smiling, my eyes closed as lavender filled my nose. I pulled Hinata-chan closer to me, opening my eyes when she chuckled.

"Good morning," I mumbled, smiling. Hina-chan chuckled as my hand found its way to her abdomen, the distinctive baby bump hiding under her nightshirt.

Hinata-chan was only a month along with twins- who she was sure were both boys- were growing at a faster rate than most babies, just like Hana had. In the last timeline, Hana was born after about three and a half months, perfectly healthy. We attributed the difference in time to trait inherited by me from Kyuubi.

She was off duty for missions now, helping within the village. I chuckled to myself, chuckling as I remembered her jounin exam.

~Flashback, One Year Ago, the Hokage's Office~

Jounin stood around the old desk to attend this week's meeting. I glanced around myself, seeing old friends in the crowd; Shikamaru and Neji had joined our ranks as jounin ninja. Sakura was beginning to take on more high ranking missions, not officially a jounin just yet. Sasuke was getting stronger, determined to last against me for his jounin exam. Tsunade, as the Godaime Hokage, had decided that it was in the best interest for prospective jounin to only have to last a solid five minutes against me when I was on the offensive.

"This time of the week again," Tsunade sighed, stretching. She glanced at the papers on her desk, pausing as she recognized a form. "Hold on, looks like we have another chuunin that wants to take the jounin exam… Any volunteers?" The jounin all looked to me, expectant.

"Sorry, obaachan, I can't do this one," I said, my hand at the back of my head. Tsunade glanced again at the paper.

"You're right, you can't," she studied the paper. "That means I'll need at least three jounin to test this kunoichi."

"Why can't Naruto do it? This is so troublesome," Shikamaru sighed. I smiled.

"It's Hinata-chan that wants to take the exam. I can't fight my mate, even if it's just a jounin exam. Don't you remember the Chuunin Exams, Shikamaru? You wouldn't go all out against Temari," I pointed out. The jounin fought a blush and I smiled victoriously. He might not be married to the Suna kunoichi- yet- but that doesn't mean he is exempt from my sense of humor. A few older jounin volunteered to test Namikaze Hinata and I chuckled at their enthusiasm.

"Do you have something to add, Naruto?" Tsunade growled. I shrugged.

"I'd like to witness the exam. If Hinata-chan is going against only three jounin… It'd be best if you have an extra medical nin on hand," I recommended. Tsunade studied my face before nodding.

"Get Hinata. She'll have her exam in Training Ground Seven in twenty minutes," Tsunade told me. I nodded and Hiraishined to Hinata-chan's necklace charm.

Thirty minutes later, Tsunade was congratulating Hinata-chan on becoming a jounin. I sat in a crater, healing one of the jounin's snapped ulna. I finished the jounin, activating demon eyes to survey the damage done to the rest of the jounin.

"Tsunade?" I called. The Godaime glanced at me, standing over the healed jounin. "I might need your help."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at Hinata-chan, who blushed accordingly. I almost regretted teaching her the warau akuma.

~End Flashback~

"Do you have to go so early?" Hina-chan asked me, pouting. I smiled, kissing her on the forehead.

"I wouldn't if you hadn't promised Gai that I'd race him at sunrise," I countered. Hina-chan scowled adorably at mention of the Green Beast.

"That man needs to take it easy on the energy drinks. And whatever else he's on."

"Just be glad you're learning taijutsu from me," I smiled. "I still don't know how Tenten and Neji survived." Hina-chan chuckled, sitting up and stretching. She caught me glancing at her stomach and she chuckled.

"I'm naming them," she said determinedly. I raised my hands in surrender, not wanting to spark any early hormones. I leaned down, smiling when our lips met.

I pulled away, grabbing my Sage coat from the closet, glancing in the mirror. I had grown my hair out a little longer, about the same length as my father's hair. My flak jacket was a darker green than other jounins', the Uzumaki swirl a brighter orange. My Sage coat was the same, red with black flames at the bottom.

"Beat Gai fast," she ordered. I chuckled, nodding.

"I love you."

"Love you too," she smiled. I turned away, walking down the hall before Hiraishining to the Hokage Monument. Seeing a flurry of green movement, I cringed.

"Yosh!" a voice called out. I made the mistake of turning towards Gai, just in time to see his infamous 'nice guy' pose. To this day, I had no idea how he created the sunset.

"Let's get this over with, Gai. Hina-chan's waiting for me," I said quietly, releasing my weights. "You can count."

"Yosh! In three… two… one!" he shouted, racing away. I sighed before running to catch up.

* * *

><p>"What's the score?" I asked, watching Gai breath heavily as he leaned on his knees. Standing on the Academy roof, I glanced below us, watching the students file into the building as they raced to class. "I lost count around… 46 me, 12 you." Kakashi jumped down from a tree, laughing under his breath.<p>

"Yo," he greeted. "Naruto, I think you should tell Tsunade whatever you wanted to talk to her about."

"Hai. Ja ne," I shrugged, walking towards the stairs without a glance behind me. I held my hands to my ears when Gai began preaching about my hip attitude, something he claims I've inherited from Kakashi.

I walked into the office without knocking, chuckling as I saw Shizune trying to grab a bottle of sake from her mentor.

"Should I come back later?" I said, trying and failing to keep a straight face. Shizune glanced in my direction, blowing her hair out of her face.

"Oh! Hello, Naruto… I'm just-"

"Just- gimme the- bottle!" Tsunade growled. I rolled my eyes, stepping up to the desk. Carefully, I reached my hand in and snatched the bottle. "Hey!"

"Shizune is right, Tsunade-obaachan. You really should take it easy on the sake," I said, handing the bottle to Shizune. The dark haired kunoichi grinned victoriously at her mentor, walking away with the confiscated sake.

"Thank you," she smiled, safely on the other side of the room.

"Yes, thank you oh so much… And stop calling me that!" Tsunade grumbled. I smiled briefly at her childishness. "So, why are you here?"

"I will never stop calling you that, Tsunade-obaachan. I'm here because I needed to tell you something important," I said. The day of my return, in the previous timeline, was approaching. If the timelines were still similar, that day would be the start of it all. I had been considering tell Tsunade about my different past. Kakashi and Hinata-chan thought it was a good idea so I planned to debrief the Godaime before too long.

"Go for it," the blonde kunoichi grumbled, still upset about her lack of alcohol. I resisted rolling my eyes at the Hokage. I rocked back on my heels, deciding to tell her.

"First, there are a few things you should know about me. I'm not _exactly _who I appear to be," I hinted. Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

"What are you trying to say, Rokudaime?" she smiled slyly. I guess my face must have given away my surprise because Tsunade chuckled conspiratorially. "Sensei filled me in when he retired."

"That-" I paused, unsure of what to say. It suddenly occurred to me that I was always the first person Tsunade referred to when she was assigning missions. _She must have known that she should maintain the timeline, _I realized. Kyuu laughed in the back of my mind. "-makes a lot of sense."

"It's pretty obvious you aren't a regular sixteen year old, Naruto," Shizune chuckled behind me. I shrugged.

"Did you know that Kakashi and Hinata-chan came back with me?"

_Victory! _The two ninjas' jaws fell. Kyuubi's chuckle grew into a booming laugh.

"Really?" Tsunade asked, recovering. I nodded and her expression grew thoughtful. "So how did we die?" _Ouch, tough._

"Honestly? I'm still not sure about you… A little while after I became Rokudaime, you took a team outside of Konoha on a recon mission. Only Sakura came back and she didn't say a word about what happened. Shizune, you had died earlier in the war, a few weeks after your wedding."

"Wedding?" she asked, an emotion I couldn't recognize coloring her tone. "Who did I marry?"

"Spoilers," I winked. "All I can say is I hope he speaks up soon; you two were really happy together." I smiled remembering how Kakashi had always smiled each time she had walked into the room. We could've just lost dozens of men and women on the battlefield for nothing; she'd be there and make it better for him.

Shizune's eyebrows knit together in concentration. Tsunade thought about it for a moment before deciding to ask another question.

"So Team Seven were the Neo-Sannin?"

"Yep. We all had the same jounin sensei- Kakashi-, and each of us were trained by one of the original Sannin. Sakura was your student, I was Jiraiya's, and Sasuke defected and turned to Orochimaru."

"I heard something about that from Hiruzen," Tsunade murmured. I nodded sadly.

"Sasuke is one of the reasons we came back. It might have been stupid, but I didn't stop trying to save him until he-" my voice caught as the memory rose in my mind.

~Flashback~

I knelt, wincing as I coughed up blood. I heard a harsh laughter- his laughter- over me. I could hear Hinata-chan, still evacuating the falling camp. I glanced up, Sasuke standing over me, sword raised.

"When will you stop chasing after me? Oh, well; I shouldn't be surprised. You always were an idiot, dobe," he smirked. I rolled away as his sword came down. Standing, I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, ignoring the blood. I closed my eyes, ready to Hiraishin to the seal I had on his back. Sasuke narrowed his eyes, staring around him for my mark. Finding it, he raised his blade to deflect my kunai. I ducked down, spinning my leg out to trip him. Recognizing the move, Sasuke easily jumped away from it, landing close to Hina-chan. He glanced in my direction before smirking and moving closer to my mate.

I growled protectively.

_Hinata-chan! _I shouted through the seal, running towards my mate. Glancing up, Hinata-chan could only widen her eyes as the steel sword sliced the air as it moved towards her in a deadly arc.

I'm not sure what happened next. All I know is that I found myself staring into Sasuke's hate-filled eyes, his sword cutting into my palms as I held it away from my mate.

"Naruto-kun," Hina-chan murmured, her eyes wide in panic. Kyuubi's chakra enveloped me, surrounding my in a protective and dangerous shield of demonic chakra. I felt my hands heal, the metal melting away from me. Sasuke narrowed his eyes, jumping away from me again. I collapsed, falling to a knee. I glanced over my shoulder, my eyes reddened by Kyuubi's chakra, the early form of akuma no me.

"Hinata-chan… Get out of here. Don't look back. Run," I ordered, glancing at Hinata-chan's abdomen. Hina-chan's right hand protectively went to her womb and she nodded, her eyes watering.

"Come back," she ordered, her lavender eyes wide with worry. I smiled confidently, just for her, nodding as I stood up.

"I always do. Kage no bunshin!" An army of shadow clones appeared, surrounding the Uchiha. He scoffed, lifting his sword as Hinata-chan made her escape.

~End Flashback~

"Until what?" Tsunade asked quietly. I shook my head.

"That's not important. This Uchiha Sasuke is not the man I've fought with for the better part of a decade. You should know that," I said, remembering Tsunade's happiness when she found out that Sasuke and Sakura were officially dating.

"I think it is important," Tsunade said, studying me. "What did he do?"

"He- he tried to kill Hinata-chan. She was six weeks pregnant. Both the baby and Hina-chan got out unharmed but I couldn't forgive Sasuke again. There were too many crimes on his head."

"Boy or girl?" Shizune asked, smiling as she seemed to ignore my other words.

"Girl. Her name was Hana," I smiled at the memory; her blond hair and lavender eyes had not been forgotten.

"So what forced you to come back?" Tsunade pressed. "Were things really that hopeless?"

"More than you can imagine. A few weeks before we left, I heard through my spy network, what was left of it at least, that Sasuke, Kabuto, and Madara were planning a final attack on Konoha itself. You need to understand, Konoha was the face of our attack force. When other nations were driven out of their homes, they came to live in and fight for Konoha. Most of our fighting force was camped in and around Konoha.

"When I got news of the invasion, I began to evacuate. Two days after my orders were given, they came. Kabuto had mastered Orochimaru's Impure Resurrection technique, reanimating every dead and powerful shinobi he could think of. Konoha was razed in a battle that lasted for almost four days. I can't even describe it. I was forced to summon Kyuubi in our own streets, just to defend our backs while we tried to save everyone left. At the end, almost all of our shinobi were dead or missing, the rest injured or weakened. Most of the Konoha Eleven and their sensei were dead. The only survivors from the Rookie Nine were Shino, Sakura, Hinata-chan, and myself."

"Sasuke?" Tsunade asked gravely. I glanced downwards, at my hands.

"Dead. Not until after he killed Shikamaru and Kurenai's son. He was seven." I clenched my fist. I did not envy Kurenai. She was forced to bury both her lover and her son. "Konoha fell, the Allied Shinobi Forces with it. The war ended, Madara and Kabuto had won. I was the final piece stopping Madara from completing his plans, the last jinchuuriki. I knew he'd try even harder to capture me and that even more lives would be lost. That's the main reason I went back, to stop him while we could. So, yes; things really were that helpless."

Tsunade nodded, processing. Shizune tried to keep her face straight, hugging Tonton tighter.

"So what are you going to do now?" Tsunade asked.

"Pretend like we never had this conversation. You need to understand, for my plan to keep working we have to maintain the timeline as much as possible. There will be things that I'll change, and I'll tell you about everything I'm changing. I can tell you right now that I'd like to go to Ame soon. They're going to be having a civil war, if it hasn't already started."

"Ame? Really," Tsunade said, leaning back in her chair. "Why shouldn't you just go in there and stop it now?"

"Do you remember, back during the Third Great Shinobi War, the three orphans that you met in Ame? Orochimaru offered to kill them to spare them of the world's cruelties?"

"Of course; Jiraiya stayed with them and taught them for a while. They died a while after he came back to Konoha," she answered. I shook my head.

"One of them died, yes. The three formed the original Akatsuki to stop the fighting in Ame. Hanzo offered a truce then betrayed them, using the girl, Konan, as his bargaining chip. He forced Nagato to kill Yahiko. What Hanzo didn't know was that Nagato possesses the Rinnegan. After Yahiko was killed, Nagato attacked Hanzo to free Konan. They got away with Yahiko's body."

"I thought all three died," Tsunade said softly, shocked. I shrugged.

"Everyone thought that. That's what Hanzo wanted everyone to think. It wouldn't be good for the legendary Hanzo of the Salamander to have lost his prey in his own country."

"So, what happens? Nagato and Konan take over Ame?"

"Basically. They actually do a lot of good for Ame; they stop all the fighting. The problem is that we came in at the wrong time, after it ended. Konoha, meaning you, sent one of our best ninja into Ame by himself, to gather information on a war we thought was still going strong. He was discovered and attacked by Konan. Nagato, now called Pain, used his Rinnegan to control six separate bodies that all wielded the Rinnegan. Our man was outnumbered, six to one. We couldn't even recover the body."

"Who died?" Tsunade asked quietly. I lowered my head slightly.

"You were the last of the Sannin, Tsunade," I answered, just as quiet. I glanced upwards, faking a confident smile. "Don't worry. I lost my shishou once; I'm not going to let it happen again."

The room grew silent. Shizune took the opportunity to leave the office, dragging Tonton with her. After a while, Tsunade stared into my eyes. I saw the worry as she glanced at the Shodai's necklace, hanging next to my fox charm.

"Obaachan," I said quietly, getting her attention. "In the other timeline, you told Jiraiya that I had this ability; that I could _make _people see things my way. I don't know how, but it works. I grew up, hated by everyone, then became the Rokudaime. Lady Chiyo sacrificed her life to save the Godaime Kazekage because she had faith in me. I defeated Pain by myself using the Toad Sage mode. I found the real Pain, Nagato, and told him my story. I didn't fight him. He gave his life to save everyone he killed in his invasion of Konoha. Konan died protecting me from Madara, trying to keep him away from the Rinnegan. I've already told you, I'm not going to leave."

Time passed as Tsunade bit her lip, trying to come up with arguments to make me stay. Eventually, she sighed quietly, defeated.

"I don't want you going alone," she said, her voice stern. I grinned confidently.

"Does that offer only extend to Konoha shinobi? It might make a better impression for Nagato to see someone else with me. He's still under the impression that nations cannot coexist without tearing each other apart. Also, he lost his parents to Konoha shinobi when he was younger. I think I should take someone with fewer connections to the Leaf."

"You're taking Jiraiya," she ordered. "If either of you don't come back…" he voice drifted off menacingly. "When are you going?"

"Not for a while. I need to go to Suna for a few days, though. The Akatsuki are going to make a move on Gaara. Don't worry, we have a plan."

"Can I know something about this plan?" Tsunade asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nope," I said, reaching for a scroll. Checking to make sure it was the right one, I smiled and unsealed the bottle, tossing it to Tsunade. "From Rice Country. If Shizune finds out, it was not from me."

I laughed as Tsunade grinned at the bottle, now in her hands. I watched as she stood from her desk and walked to the portraits of the Hokage. Stepping to her own, she shifted the portrait away, revealing a small cubby. I chuckled as she stored the sake among a number of glasses.

"I'm guessing you don't want me to tell Shizune about that?" I asked as Tsunade sat back at her desk.

"Tell me what?" Shizune asked, distractedly walking into the room. Tsunade groaned, noting the stacks of paperwork in her arms. Watching the Godaime's expression fall, I smiled incredulously.

"Is this a Kage thing?" I asked Shizune. The raven haired girl looked at me confused, dumping the sheets of paper onto Tsunade's desk. I watched Tsunade, trying not to laugh. "You seriously didn't figure it out?"

"Figure _what _out," the blonde kunoichi growled. I chuckled.

"The trick to paperwork. I figured it out in the first week," I smiled. "Kage really like to complicate their lives; I had to tell everyone else, too."

"Tell me _what_."

"Hold on, let me celebrate this moment," I grinned. My grin melted when Tsunade narrowed her eyes, standing as she raised her fist. "Okay, calm down. Just use shadow clones. You learn everything they've read and cut down time you sit behind the desk."

Tsunade's expression was priceless. She glanced at Shizune, completely stunned. Shizune shrugged, not caring as long as the work got done. Still in shock, Tsunade's hands formed a cross.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" she shouted. Four clones appeared around her, grumbling as they grabbed a stack of paperwork. I cleared my throat.

"You're right, you do owe me one," I smirked. "Give me a reason to be in Suna four days from now and I'll call it mostly even."

"Four days? Can't you Hiraishin over? Why do you need so much time?" Shizune asked from the opposite side of the room, watching one of Tsunade's clones busy at work.

"I've gotten the impression that most villagers, and Kage, aren't very happy when a Konoha nin flashes into their village. Also, I need a team for this one," I added. Tsunade sighed.

"Who?"

"Team Seven and Team Gai. I know Team Gai is on a mission right now. I'll send a fox to intercept them. Team Seven will be going directly to Suna. Do you want me to fill out a mission request? It might be easier," I suggested.

"Just give me a mission name, summary, and ranking," Tsunade said, rolling her eyes as she pulled a sheet of blank paper from a desk drawer.

"Okay. Make sure you change the date on the official records. Mission name: Rescue the Kazekage. Summary: Subaku no Gaara, Godaime Kazekage, kidnapped from Suna by two adversaries, rank unknown. Recover Kazekage safely and cease adversaries' movement by any means necessary. Mission rank: we're going to call this one A rank for now. We'll switch it to S-rank later." I shrugged. Tsunade rolled her eyes, hiding her worry as she wrote the details.

"Shizune can you-"

"I can get them together," I offered. "Sasuke, Sakura, and I were going to spar later, for old times' sake. Kakashi was going to watch and make sure Sasuke doesn't pass out from chakra exhaustion," I said, smiling as Tsunade sweat dropped. "We'll leave tomorrow morning around eight if you want to see us off."

"All right," Tsunade nodded. I waved, saying goodbye, as I walked out of the door- and into Jiraiya.

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><p>AN:

Mwahahahahahahaaaaaa! First chapter and it already ends on a cliff-hangery thing :3

So this is it, the first chapter of the sequel. Tell me what you thought for it and what you want to happen. Unlike A Chance to Change, this story is not yet set in stone. To give you some inspiration, you should know that Naruto will be taking on a genin team, two girls and a boy. They'll play to the stereotype: one overactive loudmouth, one shy but goodnatured kunoichi, and one quiet loner type. Think of all the fun :)

Itachi will also be growing into the story. I know that, in the original, I neglected him but that was because of how little he had to do in regards to Naruto. All he had to do was send in weekly reports and he was done. Now he'll have to encounter his Rokudaime and try to make it look good without dying. Not to mention that his son is now a genin *hint hint* at age eight or so. Tera, his daughter, is still in the Academy but she'll make a few cameos. She won't play a major role but she'll support the others.

Also, I don't want anyone to freak out about how young they are, Hinata shouldn't be pregnant, blah blah blah. Take a look at the life expectancy for most ninja. It's not that high. So, following logic, the younger ninja are forced to grow up early to be able to kill and torture in the field. Also, they were in their twenties, with a daughter, when they went back in time. And no, Hinata wasn't sleeping with Naruto when they were twelve. That's still at the lunch date at Ichiraku's stage.

I'm not really sure when I'll update again- I don't want to tell you a chapter a day, only to run out of material a week later- so I'm going to say every Monday and possibly Thursdays. That sound good?

Until then, R&R, follow, favorite, etc,

^.^ Susie ^.^


	2. Chapter 2

A/N:

I know, I haven't updated in a super-crazy-obnoxiously long time. I know, please don't kill me. Lots of things going on in my life x.X

Because of that rediculously long break, and because this chapter, and the one after it, are so short, I'm updating not once, not twice, but _three times_ today. Repeat: _three updates today._

Happy?

Thank you for people who updated without berating me for the gap in updates. I really appreciate it, even if **I still don't own Naruto. **(Note the disclaimer in **bold**.)

* * *

><p>Studying Jiraiya, outside Tsunade's office, I frowned.<p>

"Using the door?" I raised an eyebrow before I narrowed my eyes. "You only use the door when you have bad news. What happened?"

Jiraiya didn't answer, walking past me into Tsunade's office. She glanced up at him in surprise, her eyes darting to me.

"You used the door… What happened?" she demanded, sitting up. Jiraiya glanced at me pointedly and I sighed.

"I'm not leaving, especially if it has to do with the Akatsuki. They're going to make their move in a few days, I need to know everything I can."

"How long has Itachi been your spy?" Jiraiya asked me, throwing me off. I hadn't told anyone that Itachi was my agent. Anonymity was key to maintain a spy in an organization like the Akatsuki. Recovering I stared levelly at him.

"Ever since he left Konoha. He's been keeping me posted about his positions and the Akatsuki's plans."

"So you know who their leader is?" he asked tightly. I nodded.

"Of course I do. Wait- official leader or puppet master behind the curtain?"

"Either."

"Uchiha Madara is the mastermind. Pain is the official leader, partnered with the only female in the organization. I know who they really are, I just finished telling Tsunade. You and I are going to Ame in a few months to see if we can settle this before we have to get violent."

"No, you're going to make sure he doesn't do anything by any means necessary," Tsunade nearly growled. I sighed tiredly.

"Okay, you and I are going to Ame in a few months to see if we can settle this before we have to get violent. _If_," I pressed to Tsunade, "we need to get violent, we will."

"Better," she said, looking slightly appeased. Jiraiya opened his mouth to speak but I cut him off.

"I know Pain's true identity. That's one of the reasons why I don't want this to get violent. I've seen too many sensei fight their students," I said, thinking of Orochimaru, Hiruzen and the first two Hokage. "If you didn't know, both Konan and Nagato are still alive. Yahiko died a few years ago, near the end of the war."

"Hanzo tricked them," Tsunade said quietly, addressing the questions in the Toad Sage's eyes. He nodded. "Is that it? Naruto has a mission to get ready for."

"Who are you killing now?" Jiraiya laughed under his breath. I smiled humorlessly.

"Let's see… Deidara, Sasori, Tobi/Madara, Zetsu, Kakuzu, Hidan, Kisame, and maybe a spar with Itachi, Konan, or Nagato. The usual bunch."

"You just named everyone in the Akatsuki," Jiraiya sweat dropped. I grinned.

"Exactly. The Akatsuki are going to make their move against Gaara. He's going to play along and let himself get captured so we can track him to the main group. They won't all physically be there but I have a way to send a message," I said, closing my eyes.

"What kind of message?" Jiraiya asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously I chuckled, shushing him as I meditated. Jiraiya nodded, understanding what I was doing: going into Sage mode.

I observed the nature chakra swirling around me. Carefully, I absorbed just the right amount, feeling myself change. Tsunade gasped, making me think it worked perfectly. When I opened my eyes, I glanced behind me.

"I still only have six tails? Damn, I thought I'd have seven by now," I grumbled to myself as I watched my tails slash the air. Glancing at the frozen Sannin, I realized the issue, pulling in my stray chakra. "Sorry, my chakra is a lot more chaotic in Sage mode."

"You're a- you can turn into a demon fox? For how long?" Tsunade demanded, recovering. Jiraiya circled around me, studying me. He reached out a hand, laying it on my head condescendingly.

"You're a cute fox," he grinned childishly before growing seriously. "So this is the Demon Fox Sage mode? It's really… weird."

"I thought that at first. When I first learned how to get into the mode, I thought I was only going to take on a few more vulpine traits, like you did with the toads." Ero-sennin continued his circle. I bit back a growl when he reached a hand for my tails. "Don't touch the tails."

"Ooh, touchy," he chuckled. I grinned victoriously, watching his hand retreat into his pocket. "So what can this form do?"

"I've been having some trouble studying it… Until Hina-chan masters it, I can only learn from what I can do and experience. The first thing I've noticed is that Kyuubi's seal gets stronger whenever I enter Sage mode. If he is already summoned, going into this mode sucks him back into the seal," I said. "The second is that Kyuubi doesn't actually give me any chakra while I'm like this. My guess is because the seal is on lockdown, nothing in and nothing out."

"So nature chakra replaces Kyuubi's chakra?" Tsunade surmised, incorrectly.

"Not quite. I don't revert to human when I run out of nature chakra. I'm fully transformed into a demon fox right now. Which means, when my body runs low on the nature chakra I absorbed, I somehow create my own demonic chakra. I don't know how or why but the only way I can leave this form is by consciously separating my human chakra from the demonic chakra I've created."

"That's really… weird," Jiraiya repeated. I nodded, closing my eyes again. I looked into myself, staring at my chakra coils to see the red chakra already forming. I cut the growth, watching as my coils morph into a human shape again. I opened my still blue eyes again, glancing at the Sannin.

"I can't control my chakra as well in that form," I explained. "The third thing about Sage mode is that it can be in dangerous for the people around me. The techniques I know are not exactly meant for demonic fox use. Rasengan is one of the few jutsu I can use without injuring the people next to me, and that's only because it was based off of a demonic technique to begin with."

"So if you go into Sage mode, get out of the way?" Tsunade smiled. I chuckled humorlessly again.

"If I go into Sage mode for a battle, you better evacuate the area. I try not to depend on Sage mode, it's too powerful and it takes me a few seconds to enter it, giving a window of opportunity for whoever I'm fighting.. I only enter it when the situation really demands it," I said seriously. Jiraiya nodded in understanding. "Is that it? I'd like to go get Team Seven together. We need to leave by tomorrow morning."

"Almost; I thought you might like to know: I'm naming you my successor when you get back, Rokudaime," Tsunade said nonchalantly. I grinned, stifling an outburst of laughter.

"Good to know," I smiled, equally calm. "Can we skip the political nonsense? I've been doing politics since I was eight, more or less."

"From what I remember, the first thing you did was kidnap the Kazekage's son and threaten the Kazekage's life," Tsunade said, raising an eyebrow. I smirked lightly.

"He deserved it," I shrugged.

"Irrelevant. The Elders and the council won't approve of my decision- you're only sixteen- so I need you to play along." I thought about it for a while, weighing Tsunade's increasing aggravated tone with my desire to keep living.

"Can I send a shadow clone?"

"No," she growled. "After your mission is _successful_, give me your mission report and you'll start the political nonsense immediately."

"Hai, Tsunade-obaachan," I sighed, defeated. I grinned to myself when she reddened angrily. _Little victories, _I told myself. _Little victories._

* * *

><p>AN:

Little less irritated than I was when I wrote the former A/N. I'm happy for all reviews I get, even the ones that seem a little cheeky ;)

Anyway, _yes_ it was short. I'm aware, thank you. Keep in mind the whole three-updates-today thing before you get all wound up.

Sorry, I'm too tired to be very energetic o_o

Hopefully I'll be more awake by chapter four,

*yawn* Susie *yawn*

... not likely...


	3. Chapter 3

A/N:

WARNING! This is the second chapter I've added today. Meaning, if you haven't already, back up to chapter two. If you have, ignore this and keep reading... Why are you still reading this? Go back or keeping going! *stupid hobbitses*

This is the quote unquote beginning of the original storyline's plot. Just a little background, this is the mission the _complete_ Team Seven takes to save Gaara from Deideira and Sasori. Keep in mind that Sasuke hasn't left the Leaf, mainly because he still has a family but also because he knows that he still can't take Itachi. Again, _he never went to train with Orochimaru._

Hope you like it,

Still not owning Naruto Shippuden :(

* * *

><p>The village was peaceful, the sun bearing down on it lazily in the early morning. I adjusted the summoning scroll on my lower back, watching from the village gate as Sasuke and Sakura, walking arm and arm, appeared from the streets.<p>

Seeing me, Sakura pulled her arm away and waved to me, running in my direction. I smiled as she laughed, Sasuke rolling his eyes behind her.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in forever!" Sakura smiled. Sasuke sighed.

"I saw you yesterday," I reminded her. The kunoichi only shrugged.

"Only to tell us that we had a mission," she retorted. "What are we doing? Tsunade-shishou wouldn't tell me anything."

"I'll tell you when-" I was interrupted by a Shunshin in front of me. Kakashi glanced up at me from his book. "When Kakashi gets here," I finished, unsealing my fox mask.

"Yo," Kakashi shrugged, his eyes shifting back to the garbage Jiraiya was unfortunately famous for. I sighed, motioning for Team Seven to move out. I took point, Sasuke to my right, Sakura to my left, and Kakashi taking up the rear.

"So what are we doing?"

"Mission to Suna; I have good reason to believe that the Kazekage is going to be attacked. We are going preemptively; we'll stay in Suna for one week."

"And if he's attacked?" Sasuke asked, concentrating on where he was placing his feet. I nodded, smiling under my mask.

"Then we track him down, we take out his attackers, heal any injuries he might have, and drag his ass back to Suna," I grinned. Kakashi chuckled to himself.

"What about Haku-chan?" Sakura asked. I glanced back at her, surprised. I had completely forgotten about Haku. She had moved to Suna two years ago so she could live with Gaara, only coming back to Konoha for each chuunin exam and to visit with Hinata-chan and her other friends. It occurred to me that she hadn't seen Hina-chan in over four months, before she was pregnant.

"I don't think Haku will appreciate being left behind in Suna while we go and rescue Gaara. She can come with us if she's up to it," I decided. "I wonder if she knows about Hina-chan."

"I'm sure Hinata sent Haku a fox," Kakashi said, shrugging.

"Just move," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes behind me. I chuckled, turning my head towards him.

"Oi, Sasuke; I still outrank you!" I called back to him. He scowled playfully. "Are we still on for the spar after this mission?"

"Bring it, dobe."

"Whenever you're ready, teme," I smirked back, hidden behind my mask. I turned back to the trees in front of me as Sasuke scoffed.

"I still don't know why you two don't get along," Sakura said worriedly, glancing between us. Kakashi smiled under his mask behind her, shrugging.

"That _is _how they get along," he chuckled. "Just be happy they aren't really going to kill each other. I've seen teammates determined to hate each other, these two are playing along with their stereotypes."

"Stereotypes?" Sakura asked, confused. I shrugged.

"Uchiha and Namikaze," I said. "It goes back to the very beginning of our clans. When the Uchiha and the Senju first separated, it was not on friendly terms. It's stereotypical that I'm friends with Sasuke because it was the Namikaze who became the bridge between the Uchiha and the Senju when Konoha was founded," I explained. Sakura nodded in understanding.

I glanced around the trees, spotting a clearing up ahead. I turned my eyes to the sun, sliding closer and closer to the horizon.

"Let's camp for the night. We're making good time," I said, my feet touching down in the clearing. I closed my eyes, reaching out with my hearing for a source of water. "Sakura, there is a stream… Forty yards, six o'clock," I reported. The pink haired kunoichi nodded and strode into the trees as I turned to Kakashi. "Kakashi, set up the tents. Sasuke, get a fire started. I'll set traps around the perimeter."

The ninja all turned away to do their assigned chores.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu," I muttered. A cloud of smoke rose from the ground and two mortal foxes appeared. Koyuki looked around her curiously; Kazura glanced at me, nodding.

"Yo," he greeted. "Let me guess; setting up a watch?"

"You got it," I nodded. "Koyuki, find a vantage point. Kazura, set up some traps and get hidden. We're laying low on this one."

"Hai," they chorused. The two foxes ran into the shadows just as Sakura came up from the direction of the stream carrying a pot of water. She lowered it carefully to the ground close to Sasuke before sitting next to him as his hands flew through seals as he formed a weak fire jutsu to spark the flames. Walking over to them, I moved my hand to my face, taking off my mask and sealing it once again.

"Koyuki and Kazura are taking care of the perimeter. They'll keep watch while we sleep," I informed the two chuunin as Kakashi walked towards us. "Turn in early; I want to be in Suna by noon. Yes, Sakura, that means we're leaving before dawn." I smiled knowingly at the kunoichi. She withered under the seriousness in my eyes. I smiled deviously.

"Don't stay up all night with Sasuke-kun," I grinned. Sakura raised her fist and I danced out of the way, the blow almost landing. I studied Sakura proudly; she had gotten a lot stronger and faster. "Tsunade's been keeping up with dodging practice," I commented, still smiling. Sakura grinned smugly, nodding.

"Of course," she answered slyly. I stretched, cracking my neck before pulling a scroll out of my vest. "What's that?"

"Sleeping bag," I answered, unsealing the bedding and shaking it out, releasing a few twigs and leaves. Glancing into the trees, I saw Koyuki's eyes reflecting the firelight. She nodded, jumping down into the clearing.

"The traps are set. Kazura's watching the perimeter," she reported. I nodded, smiling, and the small vixen lay down beside me. "Naruto-sama is right, Sakura. You should rest. Tomorrow will be busy."

"Gross, politics," I complained. Koyuki looked at me sternly.

"Oi," she barked. "Don't make Tsunade's job harder. It's already going to be difficult for her to convince the Elders and the council of the appropriateness of her decision."

"Her decision to do what?" Sasuke asked, glancing over his shoulder at me. I fought an embarrassed blush, much to Koyuki's entertainment.

"You haven't told them yet?" she grinned at me. I sighed, shaking my head.

"Well, I was going to wait until after the mission, but I guess that isn't possible anymore," I suppressed a growl. Koyuki continued to grin, much to the confusion of all three ninja. I sighed, remembering I hadn't told Kakashi. I spread out my sleeping bag, trying to buy myself some time.

"Tsunade decided that I'm going to take over as Rokudaime when she retires," I said quickly. Kakashi smiled, knowing it was going to happen sooner or later. Sakura looked happy for me, only repressing her squeals out of respect for my sensitive hearing, something that had been brought up more than once in our time as Team Seven. Sasuke looked torn between pride, happiness, and an emotion that I could not recognize.

"So Gaara's the Kazekage, you're going to be the Rokudaime…" Sakura murmured. I nodded. She seemed to take it in for a moment, processing. "It's weird… all those times you said you were going to be Hokage, and now it's going to happen."

"How long until your… promotion?" Sasuke asked.

"Who cares?" I said, shrugging. "Tsunade is strong; she'll stay until she gets sick of the paperwork. With Shizune and some very handy shadow clones, that won't be for a few more years. Long enough for the Elders to try to convince her out of it but not long enough for her to kill Koharu or Homura."

"She really hates those two," Sakura nodded, smiling. I nodded, lying down. Taking the hint, Sakura said goodnight. "Goodnight, Naruto," she waved to me, walking towards the tents.

"Night, dobe," Sasuke said in his usual fashion, following Sakura. Kakashi only waved as he walked away, making his way to the tents.

All three ninja safely in their tents, I turned to Koyuki, her intelligent eyes flashing knowingly.

"So you want me to tell Haku and Gaara we're en route?" she guessed. I nodded and she sighed, shaking out her fur as she stood.

"Got it," she nodded determinedly before running swiftly into the darkness, her dark fur melting easily into the night. I turned away, pulling the covers over me as I fell into a shallow sleep.

* * *

><p>AN:

Kind of a filler chapter, I know. Yes, it is a little hypocritical for me to write filler, but there is some important info buried in there. Mostly Sakura's sudden maturity (ish) and Sasuke's reaction. No, he is not jealous. I'll explain it because it's a little vague until a lot later: he is truly proud of Naruto. Naruto and this Sasuke have been friends for nearly their entire lives and both of them knew the former's life-long dream. Sasuke is happy that Naruto is acheiving that dream. Now a small trip down memory lane: remember that Kakashi told Sasuke that Naruto could defeat Itachi back when they were seven or eight. Because of that, he is under the mindset that he needs to defeat Naruto to even stand a chance against Itachi. Now, that may be a little backwards, but my Sasuke is getting worried that he might not be able to defeat someone who is strong enough to be the Hokage. To put it mildly, Sasuke is still trying to catch up to Naruto thinking the winning prize is Itachi.

See? All important information to be filed away later.

Till next time,

^.^ Susie *yawn*


	4. Chapter 4

A/N:

WARNING: this is not the first chapter I've added today. If you haven't already, go back to chapter _two_ and start from there. I repeat, chapter _two._

No big news on this chapter, it's pretty self-explanatory.

Still not owning Naruto Shippuden :(

* * *

><p>"Kiiroi Kitsune!" A Suna shinobi called, jumping down from the wall ledges as we approached the village. I nodded at him, my mask back on.<p>

"Ohayo," I shouted when we were close enough. As he approached, I noted the distressed look on his face.

"Kazekage-sama," he said, worry clouding his dark eyes. I nodded, glancing around. Remembering the timeline, I stared into his eyes.

"Take us to Kankuro. Immediately," I ordered. He paused before nodding, motioning us to follow him before jogging into the village. We followed closely behind him, running to Kankuro's room.

* * *

><p>The puppeteer lay wincing as the medical ninja worked over him. I snatched the mask off of my face, motioning for Sakura to join me.<p>

"Medical nin, I need you to hold him down," I said determinedly. Sakura tied her Hitai-ate up, keeping her hair out of her face. The medical ninjas jumped slightly before moving to obey, recognizing me.

"What do you want me to do?" Sakura said, studying the poisoned puppeteer.

"We're going to extract the poison. It won't cure him, but it will buy us enough time to get an antidote formulated. We'll need access to your medical herbs," I told the medical ninja. A man standing in the corner nodded, walking towards us.

"I can take you to our greenhouses," he offered. I nodded, glancing at Sakura.

"Sakura, go with the man and take inventory on everything they have. Come back and I'll have a sample of the poison. You're going to be making the antidote, not me."

"Hai, sensei," she nodded, looking at the Suna medical ninja. He nodded slowly before leading her out of the room. I glanced again at the ninjas holding Kankuro down.

I put my hands on his torso, closing my eyes as I sent my chakra to wick the poison away from Kankuro's cells. He trashed at the contact and I shouted at the ninjas to hold him. I return to my work, inviting the poison to rise to my hands before I dropped the deadly liquid into the bucket at hand. When Sakura returned, list in hand, she grabbed the bucket of poison before disappearing again. I kept snatching the poison from Kankuro's wounded body. He eventually calmed and I leaned back, winded.

"He'll be fine for a few hours. He still needs the antidote, but his condition isn't as critical. Sakura should be finishing soon," I said, rocking back on my heels. Right on cue, Sakura stumbled in, a victorious smile plastered onto her face as she gripped a vial in her hand.

"I got it," she declared. I waved her over and she examined Kankuro. Glancing up at me, she seemed impressed. "How much of the poison did you manage to take out of him? He looks a lot calmer," she noted, rested the back of her hand on his fervid forehead.

"I could only remove enough to reduce his symptoms," I shrugged. "What he really needs is the antidote." Sakura smiled, holding the vial up. She filled a syringe with the liquid before inserting the needle into Kankuro's thigh. He twitched at the prick before relaxing again, his breathing just a little more even.

She checked his pulse and felt his forehead again. Standing, she grinned at me.

"He should be awake any minute," she reported, sitting on the edge of his bed. I stood, close to his bedside, watching as Kankuro slowly opened his eyes. I smiled at him tightly.

"Welcome back, buddy," I said, smiling before settling into a more serious expression. "This is why you don't go up against S-ranking missing-nin."

"It- It was- " he tried to speak, coughing. I shushed him.

"Sasori of the Red Sand, I know," I quieted him. "You are lucky to be alive. If we had gotten here a day later, you'd be dead."

"That doesn't matter… Where are my puppets?" he asked. I nodded towards the floor next to him, his puppets lying in ruins. The puppeteer threw out a chakra string, opening Crow's clenched fist to reveal a piece of Sasori's clothing. "I made sure- that he could be- found again," he coughed, leaning back. I smiled.

"Good work, Kankuro. Get some rest. We'll bring Gaara home," I promised, picking up the cloth. My hands flew through seals and I bit my thumb, slamming my palm to the ground. Koyuki bowed her head to me. I held the cloth to her. "We need to find this man," I said. She nodded before grimacing at the smell.

"I know this scent… Sasori of the Red Sand," she growled quietly. I nodded. Koyuki closed her eyes for a moment before opening them narrowly. "I have it."

"Sakura, are you okay to leave immediately?" I asked. She suppressed a yawn, grabbing a soldier pill from her pouch before nodding. I nodded, walking towards the door- only to walk into Lady Chiyo. She narrowed her eyes at Kakashi.

"White Fa-" she growled. I cut in front of Kakashi, blocking Chiyo.

"Lady Chiyo," I nodded my head respectfully. "Do not mistake Kakashi for his father. The White Fang passed away many years ago." Lady Chiyo narrowed her eyes slightly, glancing behind me as Kakashi smiled sheepishly. I ignored the ninja behind me, focusing on the Suna Elder in front of me. "I know that you want to join us. We are leaving immediately." She nodded slowly, laughing maniacally.

"I knew you weren't Sakumo," she laughed. I rolled my eyes towards Sasuke. The Uchiha chuckled silently, smiling under his long bangs. Koyuki coughed loudly, making me smile and nod.

"Before we leave, I'm Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, Kiiroi Kitsune; that is Uchiha Sasuke, Konoha chuunin and my kenjutsu student; that is Haruno Sakura, the young woman who crafted the antidote used on Kankuro, Konoha chuunin and apprentice to Senju Tsunade the Slug Queen, as you know her; and Hatake Kakashi, Copy Nin and son of the White Fang. Last but certainly not least, this is Koyuki, one of my favorite summons and the vixen to lead us to the people who attacked Suna, kidnapped Gaara, and nearly killed Kankuro. Any questions?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. Koyuki shook her head, chuckling.

"The faster we move, the better," she hinted. Chiyo studied her with curiosity as the vixen spoke. I nodded, holding the door open. "Follow me. Keep up or get left behind," she smiled deviously at the elderly Suna kunoichi. Team Seven sweat dropped, ready to run at top speed to keep up with the vixen. My eyes rested on her. The vixen was getting older, whether she liked to admit it or not. She wasn't old enough to worry about, she was the best age to settle down and have kits.

As if she knew what I was thinking, Koyuki turned her sharp eyes to me, glaring good-naturedly. She shook her head slightly, chuckling under her breath before dashing out of the room, the piece of cloth held in her jaws. Protesting, my team ran to catch up, leaving Chiyo and myself in Kankuro's room. Glancing at the puppeteer, I gave him a confident smile.

"We'll get him back," I promised. Kankuro nodded slowly, frowning.

"Be careful, Naruto. That man… He was toying with me and I'm a jounin," he said, shaking his head worriedly. I shrugged.

"I always am," I grinned. "If you want something to worry about, worry about Gaara's wounded ego when I drag him back to- Haku!"

Speak of the devil- Haku stormed into the room, nearly growling. I cringed.

"I'm going with you," she commanded. I nodded, glancing back at the door.

"Koyuki led the rest of Team Seven out already. They just left. Are you ready to run, Haku? Chiyo?" I asked, glancing at the two kunoichi. Each nodded determinedly and I chuckled, walking to the door. "What are you standing there for? Come on," I grinned, sprinting out the door. I heard Haku laugh behind me, running to catch up.

* * *

><p>"Koyuki," I called quietly. Koyuki glanced up from the boulder blocking the cave entrance, looking over her shoulder towards me.<p>

"What is it?"

"This is too easy. We should have encountered traps or-" I was interrupted by Team Gai bursting through the trees.

"My eternal rival! Your flames of youth are burning brightly!" Kakashi and I cringed in unison as each of us was addressed by our green clad counterparts.

"Quiet," Kakashi ordered, watching the boulder. Tenten crouched on the tree branch next to me, watching the rock curiously.

"What is it?" she asked. I smiled, removing my mask.

"The Akatsuki base; right now, nine men and one woman are currently sucking the Shukaku out of Gaara. If they complete the procedure, Gaara will die."

"So what are we waiting for?" she exclaimed. I held a hand up.

"The process takes exactly three days. That leaves us six more hours to make our move. We need to separate the members of the group. Together, they will be impossible to defeat with only two teams."

"That doesn't answer my question," Tenten said, sweat dropping. I nodded.

"My point is: this is too easy. We should have had more trouble with this…" I said, studying the seal on the boulder for the teams' benefit. I nodded once, smiling tightly. "That's it!"

"What is it, my youthful-"

"Shut up, Lee," I ordered. I lifted a hand, pointing towards the boulder. "This is a five seal barrier. It can only be broken by deactivating all five seals simultaneously. Most shinobi teams are four man squads. If we only had Team Seven on this mission, it'd be more difficult to break in."

"More difficult?" Neji asked, concentrating on the seal.

"I could always make shadow clones and break the seal, but I'd rather not do that. If this is a good seal, it will recognize the difference between a clone and a real ninja, probably setting off another trap in the process."

"So what do you want to do?" Kakashi asked, playing along. I smiled at him.

"Team Gai and Kakashi, find the seals and deactivate them simultaneously through radio. Sakura, Sakura, Haku, Chiyo, and I will break through the rock when the seal is broken."

"Hai!" They nodded. Neji nodded at me, activating his Byakugan and searching for each of the seals. He pointed each one out to his team and Kakashi before parting towards his designated seal. Minutes passed and the seal on the boulder eventually faded. I shifted my eyes to Sakura.

"We're breaking through?" she asked. I nodded in confirmation, returning my mask to my face, and she tightened the gloves on her hands, clenching her fist. I kept my team back as she ran towards the boulder, fist raised.

With a solid impact, the rock shattered, cracks branching into the stone from Sakura's fist before deepening and forcing the boulder apart. The resulting rubble fell into the rubble and we ran into the cave under the cover of dust.

We continued into the cave, finding the statue and the ten members of Akatsuki in various stages of surprise and anger. I threw my hands up apologetically as I saw Gaara, surrounded by blue energy, fall to the ground. I averted my eyes as his sand armor began to heal itself.

"Sorry to interrupt," I shrugged. "Haven't met this months quota of incapacitated missing-nin." Pain nodded subtly to the other ninja. The ninja not physically there all evaporated, Deidara and Sasori retreating to the side as Pain took over.

"Kiiroi Kitsune," Pain greeted, his tone light as he narrowed his Rinnegan eyes at me. His voice grew more threatening before he spoke again. "You are beginning to irritate me."

"Look who's talking," I retorted. "If you hadn't noticed, you are trying to rip Shukaku out of this jinchuuriki. Title of Godaime Kazekage aside, he's my student, the Araiguma. What kind of sensei would I be to abandon my students? I'm sure you are aware of that type of relationship, Konan, Nagato," I said, my gaze level as I nodded pointedly to each orphan. Nagato's eyes narrowed further, noticed and ignored by me.

"If you know that, you should know what we are achieving," Pain said decidedly.

"Of course I know what you're trying to achieve. Collect all nine bijuu and combine them to create a super weapon able to obliterate entire countries in seconds. You're going to use the weapon once, let the fear of being destroyed deter other countries from using it, and create short periods of peace before war inevitably breaks out."

"It seems we have a spy," Nagato smiled tightly to Konan. The kunoichi nodded subtly, shifting her eyes to me. "Kiiroi Kitsune," he laughed quietly. "If you are so strong, take off your mask."

"If you are so strong, meet me in your original body," I countered. "I know all about the Rinnegan's properties. I know for a fact that the body you're using now, Deva Pain, is not your body. The soul that once lived in that body left before his time against an underhanded opponent.."

"Why are you here?" Konan asked, her eyes flashing angrily towards me and worried towards Nagato.

"I've already told you; I'm here to rescue Gaara. Looks like Shukaku is still sealed within him… Guess I won't have to find you and kick your ass, Nagato." Nagato glared openly at me.

"You should know that I'm aware of your actions, Kitsune. You claim you spread peace… What of the nin that you've killed? What of their families? What of the lies and violence you've spread within our world? You are a false idol, hiding behind a mask. I don't hide away in this body, I spread his memory through it!"

"I have never idolized myself, Pain. I am fully aware of my faults. I am stubborn, I do not listen to other's logic, I dream probably unrealistically. I fight mercifully when I shouldn't, I fight mercilessly when I'm forced. I have the blood of innocent men on my hands. I stand behind this mask to protect those I care for, even those I can't protect," I said, raising my voice to the shadow that was Deva Pain.

"You can shut up, taicho," Gaara grumbled, wincing as he sat up. "I really hate the Akatsuki…"

"Don't," I shrugged. "Hate what they've become. The Akatsuki were created during the Third Great Shinobi War to stop the fighting in Ame. Ame was being torn apart, disregarded and ignored by the three great nations that made it a battlefield. Their cloaks signify the rain of blood spilt on their land during our wars. The first Hitai-ates were slashed after Pain was betrayed by Hanzo of the Salamander, symbolizing the broken trust and ties between the wearer and their village leadership." Nagato looked almost impressed and very cautious.

"Shut up," Haku groaned, cautiously walking towards Gaara. "Honestly, you'd think that these guys weren't your sworn enemies."

"That's because they aren't," I said, shrugging. "I don't bear the Akatsuki as a whole any bad will. I respect a number of it's members. I once asked Kisame to teach me kenjutsu before I was established as a Konoha shinobi, way back when I was nine or so. He was forced to decline when Samehada decided it liked the taste of my chakra. Sasori is perhaps the greatest puppeteer to ever come from Suna. The only issue I have with him is his fondness of human puppets. Madara is a complete egomaniac but exceptionally powerful, even if his last battle with Hashirama cripples him to this day. The only member I have a true problem with is Itachi but I admit that he would probably be a good opponent for me. He has mastered the Mangekyou. He can control time in his Tsukuyomi genjutsu. I've even heard rumors of Susanoo manifesting."

"That just makes our job harder," Sasuke growled. I sighed.

"My point is, if I wasn't on their checklist, we'd be the best of friends. Too bad I'm standing in their way to world domination," I shrugged. Haku began to heal Gaara slowly, not unnoticed by Sasori. His tail lashed out to strike her and I sighed. My limbs moved on their own accord, approaching the two Suna ninja.

I glanced up at Pain, now blocking Sasori's tail effortlessly with the flat of Mizuchi. I shifted my hands, gripping Mizuchi with one hand as my other lifted my mask off of my face.

"Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, Kiiroi Kitsune, Kitsune-sennin, future Rokudaime Hokage, and a bunch of other titles and epithets I don't bother with. The point I'm making is-" I pushed my blade against the joints, twisting so Mizuchi found her way inside the joint. I pushed chakra to the blade, the wood ripping itself apart. "I'm not hiding. And I will stop you."

"A child," Nagato scoffed. I grinned dangerously, mirrored by Sasuke.

"Naruto hasn't been a child in a long time," he chuckled darkly, withdrawing Kamisora from her sheath.

"Naruto-sensei, what do you want us to do?" Sakura asked, leveling her green eyes at the two Akatsuki still waiting in the shadows. I glanced between them and my team.

"Do you have what I told you to bring?" I asked. The pink haired kunoichi nodded and I smiled tightly. "Sakura and Lady Chiyo, you two face Sasori; Sasuke and Haku will attack Deidara. Sasuke, Deidara's attacks are deactivated by lightning," I hinted. Nodding, Sasuke narrowed his dark eyes slightly at Kamisora, the blade glinting dangerously before sparking. A current of electricity wound itself around the steel as Sasuke employed his techniques.

Haku glanced at Gaara, still sitting up tiredly. I nodded reassuringly at the kunoichi and she jumped away from her boyfriend, ready to team up with Sasuke against the terrorist bomber. I walked easily to Gaara, undeterred by the Rinnegan watching over me. Glancing back at Pain, I smiled tiredly.

"They'll be done in twenty minutes or so," I shrugged. Konan's eyes joined Nagato's as I knelt beside my redheaded student, my hands glowing with green energy.

"You do not seem very concerned for your teammates," she commented, frowning at me. I smiled brightly towards the origami master.

"I wear more than one mask," I shrugged, my eyes returning to Shukaku's jailor. "I've learned through my travels, just as you have I'm sure, that if you show concern it enables your opponents to act. If I had walked in here and broken down as I watched you suck Gaara's life and soul away from him, I wouldn't have been very intimidating. If I showed concern for my team, or Lady Chiyo for that matter, then I would have given Sasori and Deidara hope, making them fight harder."

"Please," the bomber exclaimed, rolling his eyes. "Why would we be afraid of a couple of-" His next words were lost as Kamisora sprouted from his chest, Sasuke glaring at the back of Deidara's head. The clay crumbled away from the steel.

"I hate clones," Sasuke grumbled, glancing around for the real Deidara. He activated his Sharingan, searching for the former Iwa-nin.

"You never told me how much that stings," Gaara complained. I shrugged.

"Sorry, the Akatsuki haven't taken a swing at me yet; I have no idea what it feels like," I said nonchalantly. Glancing at Nagato, I let my eyes go wide in remembrance. "By the way- if you hadn't figured it out- I'm the Kyuubi jinchuuriki," I said, drawing on Kyuubi's chakra and allowing a five tailed demon cloak to form around me. Konan's eyes widened slightly as her and Nagato's forms dissolved away from sight, their psyches returning to Amekagure. I shook my head slowly, my hands forming the familiar seal as two shadow clones appeared beside me, ready to keep track of each fight while I talked with Gaara.

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><p>AN:

Like I said, pretty self-explanatory. Badass Naruto, protective Konan, grumbly Sasuke, all very normal and familiar.

Just a thought: the demon extraction process must be incredibly painful. I'm really glad that the jinchuurikis were all unconscious when they went through that whole ceremony. Imagine getting two souls ripped out of your body over a three day period of time. *shudder* I watch too much television...

Anyway, three chapters done, as promised. Sorry about where they ended up, though. If I'd known it was a cliffhanger-ish ending, I would've promised a fourth chapter or just cut it off at two. I probably would have added on the fourth seeing how short the second and third chapters were, but we'll never know.

I promise, and you can hold me to this, that I'll update tomorrow. I'm not sure if I can maintain a regular routine of updates seeing as I stay after school more often than not between all of my extracurriculor activites, but I'll update when I can.

Much less tired now,

^.^ Susie ^.^


	5. Chapter 5

A/N:

Not much to say. It picks up a bit after chapter 4, right after everyone has their little fights. Remember: Naruto did not fight this round. If he fights, he knows that he would've killed Deidara which would've screwed up the timeline. That, or Chiyo would still be alive, again screwing up the timeline.

I don't own Naruto Shippuden.

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><p>Sasuke growled, pulling my shadow clone by his Sage coat as 'I' desperately tried to escape. Haku stood close to him looking almost ashamed. Pulling out a single senbon, Haku dismissed the clone and a wave of memories rushed into my mind.<p>

~Flashback~

Sasuke and Haku ran through the trees, chasing their target as he attempted to flee, leaving Sasori behind in the process.

Kamisora sliced through the air so fast that the sunlight wouldn't allow itself to catch and reflect off my first katana. Deidara glared as the offending blade came closer and closer to his neck before he leaned back, just in time to avoid a hit. The steel continued its' arc, Deidara's blond hair slashed diagonally in the process.

Landing in a crouch, Sasuke narrowed his Sharingan eyes at the ninja, studying how he moved and how he attacked. His eyes darted away from his target as a small white projectile came nearer to his back- a clay bomb. He somersaulted away, sliding Kamisora back in her sheath before getting into the warau akuma stance.

Seeing his opponent so confident, Deidara shifted into a defensive pose. My eyes tracked as he distracted Sasuke with a barrage of flying and crawling bombs, each trying to bypass Sasuke and Haku's defenses. I watched as the former Iwa ninja substituted himself for a clay clone, leaving it to fight my students while the real Deidara made his escape.

~End Flashback~

Another rush of memories, better organized and sorted- the mark of a clone that had dispelled himself- flooded my mind. I watched a replay of Sakura, Chiyo, and Sasori's battle, the fight looking remarkably similar to Sakura's original accounts of the battle in the first timeline.

Battle aside, I realized that Chiyo was, once again, poisoned by her grandson's puppets. I rushed to the old woman, her breathing shallow and her heartbeat erratic to my ears. I reached my hand, already glowing, to the old woman's body, ready to expel some of the toxin. My hand froze as Chiyo's hand tightened around my wrist, forcing my palm away from her.

"Don't- I don't need-"

"Lady Chiyo, you're weak," Sakura murmured, her eyes watering as she wrapped her arms around the elderly kunoichi. "Let Naruto help you." The stubborn old woman only shook her head before raising her gaze to meet mine steadily.

"You did not need to come here. Why did- do you feel so- so obligated to the Kazekage?" she coughed, her eyes losing focus. I shrugged.

"Gaara is like me. If I hadn't taken him from Suna, he would have grown up unable to control his abilities, hated and feared by his village, and alone. Nobody deserves that," I said quietly. "Jinchuuriki is a name created to describe people like Gaara and myself, the containers for unbelievable power. We never had a choice in becoming what we are, it was forced upon us. I feel so obligated to protect Gaara because he was forced into becoming something different to become his father's weapon. I was changed into something different to make my father proud."

"Perhaps… Perhaps we have always been- too harsh with jinchuuriki," Chiyo coughed. "I think- I think you'll change this world. Us old people- our beliefs are too old, I suppose. We- we avoid change, thinking… that it will bring trouble to our stability. I think-" she coughed loudly, her eyes closing as she tried to hide a wince. "I think I'll put my trust in you."

I smiled sadly at the elderly Suna kunoichi. My smile evaporated when Sakura's grip tightened, her tears now flowing steadily. I sighed to myself, placing a hand on Sakura's shoulder before I stood with Gaara and Haku, leaving Sasuke to comfort the grieving Konoha kunoichi.

"What happens now?" Gaara asked me.

"I bring up as much good news as I can," I suggested. Glancing behind me at the body of one of his elders, Gaara nodded. "For starters, it's official. I'm the top candidate for Rokudaime Hokage and will begin 'political training' as soon as we get back to Konoha. Tsunade's naming me her successor when she thinks she's ready to retire."

I was tackled by a grinning Yuki Haku. I smiled, the smile wavering before strengthening as I felt something off.

"Haku… Are you aware that you have two chakra signatures?" I asked, pointing towards her abdomen. Haku blushed before her jaw fell, glancing in between me and Gaara. I nodded and she numbly wrapped her arms around her boyfriend as I smiled knowingly in the background. "Continuing on that note, if you hadn't been told, Hinata-chan is about a month along," I informed sheepishly. Haku's eyes widened and I was tackled once more.

When I stood- albeit shakily- I cringed away from Haku.

"Are you going to do that again if I tell you that Hinata-chan is having twins?" I sighed, once again on the ground. Breathless, I stayed down. "You know what? I'm going to stay down here. Less likely to be knocked down," I pressed. Haku's laughter filled the air, making Sakura look up from Chiyo's peaceful face.

"What?" she croaked. Haku beamed, only a little dimmed by Chiyo's death.

"Gaara's going to be a father," I said in a singsong voice, still lying on the ground. I bit back a wince as the Kazekage's foot ground my left hand into the dirt.

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><p>When Kakashi and Team Gai stumbled in a few minutes later, we were getting ready to leave, more or less. Sakura was holding Lady Chiyo, trying not to cry. Gaara's arm was slung over my shoulder, his weight being partially supported by me. Sasuke was cleaning Kamisora, trying to get rid of all the dried clay on the blade. Haku was biting her lip, trying to keep from smiling as her arms crossed loosely over her stomach. I still lay on the ground, staring up at the sun as its rays found the destruction we'd caused.<p>

"There you are," I said, yawning as I sat up. Gaara chuckled as I held my left hand. "What took you so long?"

"There was a trap," Kakashi shrugged. Tenten sweat dropped at the Copy Nin's attitude. I rolled my eyes, standing with a wary glance at Haku.

"Relax," she said quietly, glancing towards Chiyo. Team Gai all quieted and Kakashi nodded, having expected something like this to happen. Sakura hugged the dead kunoichi tighter, nodding to herself.

"She was poisoned… We didn't bring enough of the antidote," she said, staring at an empty vial some distance away. I glanced at Gaara pointedly and the redhead nodded.

"We need to bring her back to Suna," he said quietly, making Sakura glance up. "She died for Suna. We need to pay her the proper respects."

The pink haired kunoichi nodded as she shifted Lady Chiyo in her arms. She forced a small smile, telling us she was ready to leave.

"Let's get back to Suna without any incidents. Temari and Kankuro are still waiting if they haven't already led a team out," Kakashi reasoned, meeting my eyes. I nodded, smiling.

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><p>The trees melted away quickly and steadily as we made a beeline to Suna. We weren't even halfway there when we were met by the Suna shinobi. Seeing their friend and leader running easily with us, each smiled and shouted, running to meet us.<p>

"Kazekage-sama!" voices rang out, greeting us as we met. Gaara was swarmed by his subordinates. Matsuri was not lost in the crowd, loudly announcing how amazing and strong the Kazekage was, even if he chose Haku. Temari monopolized her brother, hugging him before slapping him across the face.

"Don't you dare do that to me again!" she shouted angrily. I cringed in unison with Gaara, sympathetic. I sighed, wincing as I stepped in between the two siblings.

"Temari, don't beat him up too badly. He's had a rough few days," I hinted, coughing as the other ninja turned their eyes to me. Temari's eyes met mine and she nodded abruptly. When she walked away towards Baki, I glanced at Gaara behind me.

"You might have just saved my life," he said, his eyes widening slightly. I chuckled, smacking his shoulder.

"Good luck with Haku by the way. Hormones are a bitch," I laughed quietly. Haku was tackling Temari in a hug in the distance, the latter confused before her face broke into a wide smile and she returned the hug. Gaara paled.

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><p>The trip to Suna was uneventful all things considered. Word spread through the Suna shinobi, as well as to Team Gai, that I was going to become the Rokudaime Hokage. I scowled to Kakashi each time I caught a ninja staring at me, studying each move I made.<p>

**I'm sure if you break a few bones they'll leave you alone, **Kyuubi suggested. I glared at him tiredly in my mind, sighing to myself.

_Haven't talked to you in a while… How've you been?_

**You know, trapped for the rest of my life inside a kit- the usual. So Gaara and the Yuki girl… They're going to have a strong kit; Shukaku jinchuuriki with the power to control sand mixed with an ice kekkai genkai. They might give your kit a run for his money.**

_I don't know… Kyuubi jinchuuriki with kickass powers in general mixed with the Byakugan and Hinata-chan's amazing chakra control? _I smiled to myself, watching Haku making Sakura laugh as we ran slowly through the desert, pacing ourselves in the heat. _Want to get summoned? I'm getting tired of the Suna ninja studying me._

**I'm always up for getting out of your head, **he replied, grinning as he paced my mindscape. **Although, that might make them stare **_**more**_**.**

_Just control your chakra, _I smirked. Kyuu nodded and my hands flew through the familiar seals.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" The other ninja paused as I stopped on a sand dune, slamming my palm to the ground. With the exception of Team Seven, Gaara, and Temari, all of the ninjas backed away as Kyuubi, ten feet tall, stretched out of the smoke, his nine tails cutting the air. I jumped closer, resting my hand on his leg. The demon shuddered as I absorbed his chakra, storing it into the seal. When he was back in control, I smiled at him, taking a step back as I glanced at the other ninja. "What?" I asked innocently. Gaara scoffed.

"If you hadn't noticed, most Suna ninjas aren't trained not to panic when they see a demon in the flesh," he said, rolling his green eyes. I shrugged.

"**Then maybe you should summon Shukaku more often, cub," **Kyuubi said smoothly. Gaara smiled at the demon.

"You and I both know that Shukaku isn't very people friendly, Kyuu," he replied, chuckling under his breath. I glanced away from the Araiguma and the Kyuubi no Kitsune, turning my eyes to the assembled ninjas.

"Relax," I said, rolling my eyes. "Don't we have a village to get back to?"

At my words, the ninjas shook themselves, glancing at Kyuubi nervously before resuming the run back to Suna. Sandstorm, once again in her human form, nodded at Kyuubi and me respectfully before leaving to join the others as they ran towards the hidden village. The others around me drifted away, leaving me alone with Gaara and Kyuubi. The ninja farther away, Gaara's hands went through seals and Shukaku appeared in a small cloud of smoke, the size of a mortal raccoon. Automatically, Gaara's hand rested on Shukaku's forehead and the redhead absorbed the excess chakra, storing it in his own seal on the inside of his left forearm. I glanced at the swirling tattoo of chakra, not as defined or neat as Tsunade's but more natural looking. It vaguely reminded me of a sandstorm moving towards his hand, the winds etched in darker lines as small flecks of sand traveled across them.

"Shukaku," I greeted, bowing my head respectfully. Shukaku nodded at me, stretching as he shook sand out of his fur.

"**Kit, cub," **he greeted both me and Gaara before turning to Kyuu, **"Kyuubi."**

"**Shukaku," **Kyuu nodding in return. Formalities aside, Kyuu shook out his fur. **"This is when you thank Naruto for rescuing Gaara from the Akatsuki before you were sealed," **he hinted. Shukaku let out a combination of a growl and chuckle.

"**After he told Gaara to let him get captured," **he retorted. I sighed, stepping in between the two demons.

"Okay, calm down," I quieted the old friends. "Let's just get to Suna before Gai challenges Kakashi to a race, all right?"

The two demons both grumbled, turning away from each other. I rolled my eyes at their childishness before running back towards Suna, already in sight.

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><p>AN:

Nice medium sized chapter. Ties up the Rescue the Kazekage arc fairly neatly, don't you think?

Not much else to say aside from the usual: please please _please_ leave a review. Tell me what you thought, it all really helps. Again, this story is not yet set in stone. I am taking any reccomendations into account. Just leave me a review or a PM and I'll get back to you :)

^.^ Susie ^.^


	6. Chapter 6

A/N:

Sorry it took me so long to update. I've reached that point in my high school career where schoolwork is the most important thing for me, so I probably won't update as regularly as I'd like. I'll update twice tonight though, I owe you guys that much.

Not owning Naruto Shippuden in any way, shape, or- never mind, lies. I own a Hitai-ate. But, aside from that, nothing is mine :)

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><p>"Kiiroi Kitsune, reporting for the worst weeks of my life," I announced cheerily to the Hokage's office from the window. Glancing behind me, Tsunade sighed, dismissing the jounin giving her his genin team's mission report. "Are you sure that wasn't an important debriefing?"<p>

"They were chasing Tora, I doubt it was that spectacular," she shrugged, waving me into the office. "Are you always going to use the window?"

"Probably," I shrugged. "In my defense, I could have used a chameleon jutsu, climbed in through the window, and dropped down from the-"

"You know what, I don't care," she said, stretching. "The important thing is that I'm going to Kumo for two weeks and leaving Shikaku and Kakashi in charge. You're coming with me to talk about a potential treaty with the Raikage."

"Cool, I owe B a spar," I smiled. Tsunade sighed.

"We aren't going to Kumo to play around. This is politics," she said sternly. "And no, we are not going by Hiraishin." She enforced her decision by cracking her knuckles threateningly. I gulped.

"I wasn't going to say anything," I defended, backing away slowly. "I was only going to ask if I could check in on my spies in Hot Springs and Frost Country. Jiraiya's been trying to combine our networks to make a stronger net. The only problem is that our spies don't always recognize each other. My network is trained to kill if they're suspected."

"Isn't that a little harsh?" Tsunade asked, crossing her arms over her chest. I shook my head, pointing to myself.

"The Fourth Great Shinobi War was hell; I learned not to take chances the hard way." My fist clenched and I fought to relax it. "Spy networks aside, I need to visit the Waterfall of Truth again."

Tsunade's eyes narrowed suspiciously and confusedly.

"Waterfall of Truth?"

"Hai. Don't worry about it, it's jinchuuriki stuff," I shrugged. That was only half the truth- I wanted to see how strong my dark side had gotten with my memories of the war. "The Waterfall of Truth is on an island hidden away in Kumo usually open only to jinchuuriki. It's where I learned how to control Kyuubi's chakra before we became friends in the other timeline."

"How important is this to you?" Tsunade asked, sighing tiredly.

"Important enough that I need to do this before Ame. It might be easier for me to do this now instead of going out to Kumo by myself," I suggested evenly. Tsunade sighed, nodding. My face broke into a smile as I stretched. "When are we leaving?"

"Two days," she answered, studying her papers before glancing up at me. "Also, check on your spies some other time; we have work to do."

"What is the treaty about?"

"A possible alliance. Full trade and military support if A agrees to it."

"He won't object to trading opportunities, but military support may be more difficult. I know the Raikage, he won't agree if he thinks you're trying to use B. You need to talk to him so that he thinks he's getting the best end of the bargain, no matter how even the stakes are. If A understands that we aren't looking to use Kumo for our gain or the other way around, he'll support an alliance."

"Maybe I should let you do the talking," Tsunade chuckled, raising an eyebrow.

"And maybe I shouldn't have to do this political nonsense," I shrugged, hopeful. Tsunade shook her head, rolling her eyes as she waved me away. I took the dismissal, Hiraishining home.

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><p>I smiled, watching Hina-chan and Koyuki once again sitting at the pool, joined by another fox, a male named Kazan. My smile grew as I noticed the tender look in Koyuki's grey eyes each time they met Kazan's gaze.<p>

"I'm home," I called from the porch. Hinata-chan glanced up, beaming. She walked over to meet me in a more sedate pace than usual, pecking me on the cheek instead of tackling me in a hug.

"How was Suna?" she asked, smiling sweetly.

"We got there a little later than intended. Everything turned out fine; Kankuro was treated, Shukaku is still sealed within Gaara, and one more thing."

"What? What happened?" she asked worried. I grinned conspiratorially. "Just tell me!" she chuckled, smacking my shoulder playfully. Kyuubi chuckled as I bit back a wince.

"Let's just say that Haku won't be the last Yuki," I grinned. Hinata-chan froze for just a moment before working it out. She only stopped her cheering when her ears rang with her own voice, her senses almost as sensitive as my own. Holding her head, she glanced up at me. "Let me guess; you want me to Hiraishin you over there so you can congratulate them?"

"And make them get married ASAP. The Kazekage having an illegitimate child is not going to happen on my watch," she growled good-naturedly. I chuckled as she hugged me tightly. Koyuki glanced at us then towards Kazan, stretching in the sun.

"You two go on, we'll be fine here," she shrugged. I winked at her knowingly and she growled deep in her throat as I closed my eyes, Hina-chan following suit. She shut her eyes and I followed my chakra to the Hiraishin seal Gaara added to his desk during one of my trips to Suna. Opening my eyes, I apologized as genin team- probably newly appointed- jumped back in surprise. Their jounin sensei pulled out a kunai before recognizing me. I turned to see Gaara shake his head as he stood from his desk.

"Just because you are my friend doesn't mean you can Hiraishin in here at any time," he sighed. "That applies to you too, Hinata."

"Where is Haku-chan?" she demanded, ignoring the Kazekage's reproaches.

"She should be at home with Temari," Gaara answered calmly. Hinata-chan grinned at him before kissing me on the cheek and jumping out of the window. Gaara sighed, his eyebrows coming together in concern. He glanced at the genin, nodding. "Yaoki, you and your team are dismissed. I'll send for you when I'm able."

"Hai, Kazekage-sama," the jounin nodded. I recognized him as one of the men from Team Seven's joint mission with Gaara after the invasion of Konoha in the previous timeline. Yaoki was one of Gaara's first friends in that timeline. I studied the man now as he shooed his team out of the office. _They must have just been made a team, _I decided. Older genin would've ran at a dismissal from their Kage.

Gaara glanced out the window, catching my attention as he frowned.

"I thought Hinata was only a month along," he commented. I nodded.

"We think it's something from Kyuubi. Hana was born after about three and half months, perfectly healthy. She was the right size and everything," I shrugged.

"I guess that's the important thing…" Gaara drifted off, staring at the sky outside. I frowned, walking up to my friend and former student.

"What's wrong?" I asked quietly, putting a hand on his shoulder. Gaara sighed, shrugging.

"I don't know… It's just…"

"Don't think you're ready for a wife and child?" I asked. The redhead nodded slowly and I smiled. "Don't worry about it. Hinata-chan and I are here if you need us, but I don't think you will. The last time, you didn't stop stressing about it until you were holding your son, safe and healthy," I told him. He looked a little reassured and I smiled brightly. "See? Better," I said, my smile turning devious. "Besides, you aren't having _twins_. So… who's going to be your best man?"

Gaara groaned, his hand finding its way to his forehead as he tried to stop the inevitable headache. I grinned, not sympathetic enough to reassure him this time.

"I'd say get the Kazekage to preside over it but that seems a little impossible," I chuckled, dodging a punch. "I could get Tsunade to do it," I laughed, ducking to avoid a spiral of sand as it came dangerously close to my neck. We continued going back and forth, he attacking physically and me attacking verbally, until I held my hands up in surrender.

"Are you finished?" he growled, the kanji for love pulsing in anger. I chuckled to myself, slightly breathless, at the irony.

"Yes, I'm done," I grinned. "Do you think you can take a twenty minute break, or do you want me to rescue Hina-chan and Haku from themselves by myself?"

"You do it," he sighed, sitting back at his desk. "Why did I ever want to be Kazekage?"

"So you could protect Suna," I suggested. The Godaime Kazekage only sighed, forming sand clones as he picked up a stack of paperwork. "Don't worry, soon enough I'll be plagued by paperwork, just as you are now."

"Looking forward to it," he muttered. I chuckled, jumping out of the window and across the rooftops towards the apartment Haku shared with Temari and Sandstorm.

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><p>I stepped over the threshold, hearing Hina-chan laughing as she retold stories from the past four years of our marriage. I cleared my throat loudly, standing in the corner of the room. Haku, Temari, and Sandstorm all blushed; Hina-chan smiled like nothing had happened.<p>

"Hey, Naruto-kun," she chuckled. I rolled my eyes.

"It's time to go," I told her. "We didn't tell anyone where we were leaving," I explained the two kunoichi and kitsune standing next to my mate. Each pouted as I walked towards Hinata-chan. She gave each a final hug before gripping my hand. "Ja ne."

I blinked, opening my eyes to my living room. I glanced around the room, so similar but different from when Zabuza and Haku lived with us. With Haku moving to Suna, Zabuza had taken the opportunity to get his own place deeper in the village.

Instead of couches gathered around a wooden coffee table, there was a single couch parallel to a glass coffee table. Bookcases lined the walls, filled with photo albums, novels, and jutsu scrolls. Picture frames from various points in our lives adorned everywhere there was room; childhood memories, pictures from the wedding, the team pictures of Team Seven and Team Eight, double dates with Sakura and Sasuke, everyone laughing at birthday parties, anniversaries, and crying at Hiruzen's funeral. The Sandaime had passed quietly in his sleep a few days after Konahamaru's eleventh birthday.

Lost in two timelines' memories, I almost didn't notice as Hina-chan slipped away to the window, glancing outside. Almost.

I joined her at the window, chuckling as Koyuki and Kazan laughed, chasing each other innocently around the patio. I wrapped my arms around Hina-chan, smiling as she leaned into me and lavender filled my senses.

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><p>AN:

Not much to say... _awkward..._

Remember, I'm updating twice tonight :)

^.^ Susie ^.^


	7. Chapter 7

WARNING! This is not the first chapter I've uploaded today! If you haven't already, back it up ONE chapter to chapter SIX! Thank you :)

I don't own anything except my Hitai-ate.

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><p>Hina-chan hugged me tightly, ignoring Tsunade's complaints that we needed to get going. The crowd of villagers and ninjas was unavoidable; we now stood in front of dozens of people, all standing there to watch us leave.<p>

"I love you," she whispered in my ear, pulling away slowly. I smiled back.

"Always and everywhere," I finished. My hand moved to touch the fox charm, still hanging around her neck. "Whenever you need me."

"I know," she smiled, glancing around her. "You should probably get going."

"Yep," I chuckled. "Ja ne."

Kakashi grimaced as Konoha's Green Beast began his sermon about the 'hip attitude' I had inherited from Kakashi. He did have the self-restraint to resist punching the jounin into the ground, something more than I could say some of the time.

"Try to make sure Konoha's in one piece when we get back," Tsunade said to Shikaku. He sighed but nodded, glancing at Kakashi. Kakashi did his weird eye-smile, nodding as he walked away from Gai and towards us, causing another speech about his hip attitude and his youthful flames.

I unsealed my mask, watching Tsunade study the face as I put it on. I checked my vest and Sage coat for my various scrolls and weapons. Mizuchi was across my back, Raijin no Ken at my left hip. The Demon Fox Summoning scroll was once again at my lower back.

Everything accounted for, I nodded at Tsunade, cracking my neck.

"I'm ready," I told her. She nodded, her Hokage hat in hand. She glanced at the crowd, smiling.

"We're off," she announced. Turning to me, she said in a lower voice, "This is serious. I need you on your best behavior, Kiiroi Kitsune."

"Sure thing, Tsunade," I said, neglecting the suffix. I didn't want to begin the mission on a sour note. When the village was out of sight, I glanced at the kunoichi in front of me. "Can I summon Kyuu?" Tsunade threw me a withering glance before sighing and nodding. I grinned under my mask, my hands going through the seals and my thumb slicing itself open on a kunai. I slammed my palm to the ground, sighing as Kyuubi, twenty feet tall, bit his paw. I jumped to his head, my hand on his forehead as I began to absorb his excess chakra. When I finished, I jumped away from the demon, Tsunade studying me.

"What is it?" I asked her. She maintained her silence for a few minutes, walking forward. When she spoke again, she turned to face me.

"You just absorbed Kyuubi's chakra, right?" I nodded and she frowned. "Where did you put it? You couldn't have just assimilated it all into your own coils, that much would have-" She was cut off as I lifted off my mask and then my Hitai-ate, revealing the seal.

In the center of my forehead was a diamond, not unlike Tsunade's. Instead of blue, mine was deep red in color. Branching off from each corner of the diamond stretched tendrils of red-orange flame. I had studied this seal every night that I could. I had designed the seal to be a single diamond like Tsunade's but the demonic nature of the chakra, as well as the amount of it, seemed to mutate the seal.

"It's like my Yin seal," she said, studying it. I nodded.

"I designed it to be similar. I'm not exactly sure what happened to create the flames, but I guess it was the amount of demonic chakra I have stored in it." Tsunade raised her hand, poking me in the forehead.

"What happens if you release it?" I shrugged and resumed walking.

"Absolutely no idea," I answered truthfully. Tsunade raised an eyebrow and I got serious. "I've been storing Kyuu's excess chakra in this seal every time I've summoned him since I left Konoha when I was eight. I have about three tails of power stored in my head right now. If I release the seal without going into Sage mode, it'll probably have a similar effect to opening the eighth chakra gate or drinking Hero Water. If I go into Sage mode first, I have no idea what might happen. I'm already up to six tails. If I release the rest of the chakra, I'll either get nine tails and lose control or release Kyuubi."

"I'm not liking the sound of either," Tsunade decided.

"Neither did I," I said. "That is why, right now in my office, there are a number of prototype seals. I'm trying to weaken the seal a little bit, just enough to let the chakra bleed into my coils. The biggest problem is I have to create an artificial chakra gate in the seal, right on top of the first two gates."

"So you're integrating the chakra into your coils while preventing it from flooding your system?"

"And I'd still have full access to it on the battlefield if I needed it. All I'd need to do is open Reimon, gate zero," I said, pointing to the diamond. Tsunade scoffed and began running to the east. I rolled my eyes, securing both my Hitai-ate and my mask to my head before running to catch up with the Slug Sannin.

* * *

><p>"Hey, yo," a voice began to sing. I bit my tongue, trying not to sigh as I bumped fists with the Raikage's brother, the Hachibi jinchuuriki Killer B.<p>

"Hey, Sunglasses," I grinned looking up at the man. He grinned back, the tattoos over his left eye shifting slightly. I took off my mask, my eyes taking in the

"Hey yo, Naruto," he began. Tsunade clenched her fist, cutting off the jinchuuriki before he could get started.

"Hello, B. Could you take us to your brother?" she asked, trying to be polite. B glanced at me and I nodded.

"Official Hokage-Raikage business," I explained briefly. B nodded in understanding before leading us into the village and towards the Raikage's office. On the way, I walked in front of Tsunade to talk with B.

"So, why are you here, yo?" B asked me before mumbling more phrases as he pulled out his rhyme book. I rolled my eyes, chuckling.

"I'm going to take over as Hokage when Tsunade retires. She thinks I should learn politics."

"No, I think you should learn _manners_," she corrected from behind me. I turned my head to her, grinning.

"Politics aren't about being polite. They're about yelling and screaming until you get what you want and being subtle enough that nobody realizes it. Take a look at Danzo," I smiled, shrugging before turning back to B. "I also need a favor."

"What's up?"

"I need to visit the Waterfall of Truth," I said. B stopped, a little confused, before resuming his walk and acting like he had never paused.

"I'm surprised you've heard of it, yo," he shrugged. I smiled.

"Jinchuuriki," I reminded him. "I need to make sure that the addition to my seal is as secure as I think it is. I didn't really get a chance to the first time I was here," I shrugged. B's smile got a little sheepish, remembering how Gaara and I had been attacked as we were on our way out. Tsunade growled behind us, making both of us turn towards the kunoichi. "Yes, obaachan?" I asked innocently. Tsunade's face reddened angrily and her eyes narrowed slightly.

"I told you not to call me that," she growled. I grinned.

"Not likely," I replied, making B chuckle. "What's up?"

"Can you two play catch-up later? This is an important meeting," she reminded me. I grinned.

"Then you should have let me Hiraishin us over here," I retorted childishly. "I see your point though," I appeased the Sannin. B nodding, picking up the pace.

Soon enough, we stood in the Raikage's office, standing by while A was reprimanded by Mabui for once again coming in through the window. Glancing behind her at us, A stood up, shushing his assistant.

"It's about time you got here," he said, beckoning us closer. "I thought you would have Hiraishined over here."

Tsunade expertly evaded my withering glance, exchanging greetings with the Raikage. After a few minutes of small talk, B cleared his throat, announcing my desire to go to the island where he and A trained. The Raikage narrowed his eyes and I nodded.

"I need to visit the Waterfall of Truth," I said truthfully. "I also want to visit the temple and make sure that my seal is as strong as I think it is."

"Fine. B, go with him," he ordered, turning back to Tsunade. The Hokage locked eyes with me, silently ordering me to be fast. I nodded and pulled out one of my scrolls, unsealing a Hiraishin kunai.

"Keep this on you," I told her. "We'll return faster if we don't have to go the long way," I said to the Raikage. He tried to hide a grimace at the kunai, remembering how often my father had evaded him using the Hiraishin.

We said our farewells to the two Kage, leaving them to discuss politics and hopefully not attack each other. Glancing back at them from the door, I sighed as they each jumped up indignantly.

_I should have done the talking._

**Just get going, **Kyuubi rolled his eyes at me. I smiled to myself as I chased B out of the office and into the clouds in the direction of Turtle Island.

* * *

><p>AN:

I apologize for my awful portrayal of B. He's one of those characters I never see as real people so it's impossible for me to try to write them as real people. Or even strange people... They just don't work out that well.

Sorry to cut it short here- _return of Dark Naruto in the next chapter *excited*_- but I really should get some sleep. It's getting crazy late and I'm already getting yelled at by my mom (don't laugh, I'm a sophomore in high school) for staying up too late. *sigh* Now she chooses to be the responsible adult.

Till next time,

^.^ Susie ^.^


	8. Chapter 8

A/N:

Here's another chapter for you :) I'm sorry to say that I'll be updating a bit sporadically but, considering the English essay I have yet to start due in a few days, I can do much about that at the moment. I'll update when I can, and remember, of course.

Return of Dark Naruto, mwahahahahahaaaa

I still don't own Naruto Shippuden.

* * *

><p>Sitting before the Waterfall of Truth, I glanced around myself, checking for B. Not seeing him, I smiled to myself. Having gone through this process, B understood how long this process could take. Unlike Motoi and Yamato, he'd give me time to settle things with myself.<p>

I closed my eyes, listening to the waterfall as it cascaded in front of me. I opened them slowly when I heard a harsh laughter, my own laughter.

"The great Rokudaime," he sneered. "It is amazing though, you've taken on a whole new life but the villagers still don't trust you! Not completely," he said, his voice dropping to a whisper as he walked closer to me.

"I know where your heart truly lies, Naruto," he grinned sadistically. "You didn't come here to keep a promise to a living, dying, dead man. You came to see if Hinata was wrong; to see if you were becoming a monster. You've killed dozens upon hundreds of ninjas, in this life and the last. Innocent men and women trying to protect their families- slaughtered at your feet. And my favorite part?" he asked brightly. "You enjoyed it. You, who always told yourself that it was necessary- that it would save lives in the end- craved the sound of steel on steel on flesh."

I growled, drawing Mizuchi. I narrowed my eyes when the dark version of me did the same. I put the katana back in its sheath, shaking my head.

"I can't beat you like this," I murmured. My dark side only laughed.

"You can't ever beat me. I am you, but I'm strong enough to know what I want- and take it!"

He ran towards me, Mizuchi drawn, and I opened my eyes, coughing in front of the Waterfall of Truth.

I sat once again at the waterfall, opening my eyes when I heard the same laugh.

"That is what I love about you; you keep coming back for more. What else don't you know about yourself? How hard the council fought to have Tsunade rethink her successor? How the mutt still can't look at you without growling? Or how you haven't given Hana a second thought unless-"

"I think of Hana all the time," I growled quietly. My double raised an eyebrow expectantly as I stood, my eyes meeting his. "If you know where my heart truly lies, then you should have seen her in my thoughts. Kiba will change once he finds his other half, just as we did. And you know that the council distrusts me because I know it. I don't blame them, I'm a liability to their seats of power."

"And doesn't that anger you? All you've done for this village-"

"That they don't even know about," I interjected quietly. "They distrust me, they don't hate me. That's enough for now. Even if they never accept me, which I know they will, I'll always have Hina-chan. Also, Kyuu likes _me_ better," I grinned. Kyuubi appeared behind me, as tall as I was and growling deep in his throat as he glared at my dark side.

My double narrowed his eyes at Kyuubi before widening in shock as Mizuchi sprouted out of his chest, evaporating to reveal my clone. I grinned as Kyuu and the landscape melted into reality.

B still absent, I shrugged to myself as I stood before jumping headfirst into the waterfall.

The temple was still in need of some care. The headless statues still lined the path, leading to the two inner chambers. I stopped at the Nibi's head, pausing before leaning headfirst into the statue once again. Without anyone to prank, I flipped the switch and backed out of the head quietly.

The door slid upon and I filed in, sitting down and closing my eyes, searching for my mindscape.

* * *

><p>Kyuubi's familiar cage appeared in front of me. He stood behind the bar, glaring at the metal.<p>

**I remember this cage,** he growled, scratching at the bars. I smiled, jumping up to the seal.

_I'll get you out of there, _I promised, sliding my hand under the parchment. I ripped the paper off, revealing the swirling pattern below it. I opened my flak jacket, my own seal darkening. I pushed up my right sleeve, the key glowing black against my skin.

~Flashback, Two Years Ago~

"Jiraiya, I _need _the key to Kyuubi's seal." My eyes searched out surroundings, studying peoples' reactions as they took in the yellow mask on my face. Most backed away slowly, the rest narrowing their eyes and tightening a hand on their weapons.

"Begging will get you nowhere," Jiraiya countered, smirking as we walked through Usotsuki-mura, one of the seediest towns in the Land of Rain close to its border with the Land of Fire. Missing-nin and outlaws weren't in short supply as we walked into a bar. I glanced around the bar, my spy sitting in a booth in the back, nursing a glass of sake. Taking in my mask, he nodded and downed his alcohol.

Sitting at the bar, I ordered sake for both myself and Jiraiya. The bartender looked intimidated, studying me as I removed my mask to drink.

"Team Seven," I raised my glass to Jiraiya. He smirked, raising his own.

"106 centimeters," he toasted. I rolled my eyes, remembering what he was referencing. He drained his glass quickly as I sat, nursing my drink. As I sat, my spy bumped into my shoulder, apologizing as he pushed a ball of paper into my hand. I smiled good-naturedly and he left, glancing up and down the street before turning left.

"I still need the key," I persisted, staring into my glass. Jiraiya glanced up from his glass, passing it back to the bartender for a refill. I sighed, paying the man.

"Thanks, Kitsune-sennin," he smirked. I shrugged.

"No problem, _Ero-sennin_," I replied, rolling my eyes and I put my glass down on the bar, sliding it towards Jiraiya.

"Getting me drunk won't get the seal," he pointed out. I chuckled.

"Who knows, you might throw up Gerotora," I countered. His smile only widened as he downed another glass of alcohol. "Nah, I'm just kidding. I know you need to summon him."

I watched him inhale alcohol at an inhuman rate. By the time we left the bar, my wallet was much lighter, the toad Sage almost tipsy. I put my mask on, watching Jiraiya wave like an idiot to one of the few attractive women in this town.

_How does he drink all that and only be a little buzzed? _

**You can do the same, **Kyuu pointed out.

_I have a demon sealed into my stomach whose chakra I can use to heal myself, including detoxifying my bloodstream._

**Not if I for want you to get drunk, **he grinned, cutting the chakra he gave me in half. I stumbled and Jiraiya looked back at me curiously.

"You didn't even drink that much," he slurred. I shook my head.

"Kyuu," I explained briefly. "This is why I need the seal; so he doesn't cut off chakra when I _need _it."

"No," he insisted. I sighed, pulling him into an alley.

"Don't make me force you, Jiraiya. You know I can," I said, taking off my mask so he could see my raised eyebrow. Instead of giving in, Jiraiya looked childishly adamant, leaning forward in expectation. I growled, deep in my throat.

"Did I make the little kitty angry?" he pouted. My growl continued.

"Foxes are canines," I snarled. Kyuubi chuckled in approval, the chakra returning to my system, and I stopped.

"What?" Jiraiya asked as I backed away, sighing. I shook my head.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" I shouted, a poof of smoke rising from the ground. Kyuubi shook his fur, dispelling the smoke. He was once again biting his foot, preventing himself from growing over three feet tall. I placed a hand on his forehead, absorbing his excess chakra and storing it away.

"**Warn me next time," **he complained. I smiled, glancing at Jiraiya.

"Kyuu, can you explain to the nice Ero-sennin here why he should give me the seal?" I smiled sweetly. Kyuubi muttered something quietly and I absorbed a little more of his chakra than necessary.

"**Okay, okay," **he shuddered. **"Give the kit the key, Sage. Without it, he can't use my chakra as efficiently as he should. When he can go into nine tails mode and control himself, he'll be more powerful than you can imagine."**

"And if he can't control himself? If you control him?" Jiraiya countered, narrowing his eyes concernedly. Kyuu shrugged.

"**You still don't trust the kit, do you Sage? He's strong and we get along. I don't doubt that he can overpower my will and take my chakra under his sole control. He's just too noble for that. That is why he altered the addition to his seal so he cannot control me just as I cannot control him. If he does lose control attempting the nine tails mode, I can always suppress my own chakra and cut him off, returning him to control."**

Jiraiya was still not convinced. Exchanging glances with Kyuu, I sighed.

"Jiraiya," I started. Hearing me not call him Ero-sennin, the man paid close attention. "I know for a fact that my father wanted me to eventually have the key so I could control Kyuubi's full power. If it makes you feel better, I won't even try going through with this until I'm at least sixteen."

"**He's not a child, not by your standards at least. Let him do this, Sage. Naruto is strong. He's already turned my will to match his'. All he needs now is to go to the Tailed Beast Temple and adapt to my power."**

"Aww, you called me Naruto," I said, pretending to cry. I stopped as a tail came flying towards me head, stopping only when Kyuu met my eyes.

Jiraiya glanced between us, outnumbered and overpowered. He sighed, his hands folding together in front of him as he summoned Gerotora. His mouth opened wider and wider, the toad climbing out of his jaws. I suppressed a shudder, remembering Orochimaru's retrieval of Kusanagi. Gerotora jumped out, glancing at myself, Jiraiya, and Kyuubi before he sighed.

"What do you want to do this time?" he asked. Jiraiya smiled sheepishly.

"It's time," he announced. Gerotora leaned away a little. "Minato was right, you need to store yourself into Naruto."

"Is that possible? Last time I checked, he didn't sign the toad summoning contract," Gerotora said cautiously. Jiraiya glanced at Kyuubi, who nodded. Jiraiya pulled the summoning scroll out from behind him, opening it. He nodded at me and I drew a kunai, slashing my hand open before signing my name in blood and placing my palm against the scroll.

Gerotora sighed at the sudden signing before staring at me pointedly. He stretched, opening his own scroll to show the key. I pushed chakra to my fingertips as my hand connected with the paper.

"Don't forget that you need to get Gamabunta's approval," Jiraiya reminded me as I pulled my hand away. I nodded, glancing at the toad.

The signing finished, Gerotora rolled himself up before staring at me once again. Swallowing, I grimaced.

"Let's get this over with," I frowned, opening my mouth wide.

He didn't taste any better in this timeline.

~End Flashback~

I pushed chakra to my fingertips once more before pushing my hand to the seal on my stomach. I twisted my wrist, opening the swirling design as the seal on the door contracted. The lock slide open and I jumped away as Kyuubi once again pushed the gates open.

Kyuu stretched out calmly, his tails thrashing away behind him. Calmly, I jumped to his head and placed a palm on his forehead.

"This might hurt," I warned. He shrugged.

"**Just get on with it. I've done this before, remember?" **he chuckled, bracing himself.

Closing my eyes, I tried to ignore Kyuu's wince as I began to pull his chakra away from him. I felt him clench his jaw, mirroring my stress. When I finished, his chakra changed my form again. Instead of red bubbles of chakra, I was covered and made up of yellow flames, now highlighting my flak jacket instead of my jumpsuit. The six flame tomoe, so much like the Sage of Six Paths, and the swirl on my stomach still stood out from the flames.

"Do you think you can behave if I just let you wander my mindscape, no cage?" I said nonchalantly. Kyuubi turned his head, almost knocking me off balance, to meet my eyes. I chuckled at the hope I could tell he was trying to crush. "I'll take that as a yes."

"**It's too bad you can't meet your parents in this timeline."**

"I'll see Minato the first time I get to eight tails. If I can't control it, he'll suck you back into the seal, remember? And who knows, we might see Kushina some other-" My voice cut off when I sensed a presence behind me. I was about to attack when I recognized the chakra, warm and bright. I smiled as my eyes found red hair. "Mom…"

"Hello… Naruto-kun," Uzumaki Kushina smiled softly at me. All of a sudden, I had no idea what to say to the beautiful redhead. Kyuu chuckled at my inability to form a coherent sentence.

"**You two play nice," **he said, lowering his head. I grabbed my mother's hand and led her off of Kyuubi's head. She protested as Kyuubi began to walk away from us. Chains shot out from the ground, pinning Kyuubi to the ground of my mindscape.

"You aren't going anywhere, Kyuubi," Kushina nearly growled. I shook my head at her, releasing Kyuubi from the chains.

"Kyuu isn't the monster you knew for so long, Kaasan," I said, watching Kyuu stretch as the chains fell away. "Don't worry, I know about your relationship with Kyuubi."

"**I should probably apologize," **Kyuu muttered. I smiled at him as he shrunk down to about six feet tall. I scratched behind his ears, grinning when he purred against his will.

"Apologize for what?" Kushina asked warily. Kyuubi glanced at the ground shamefully.

"**For how I behaved when I was sealed within you and how I behaved when I was first sealed into your son. It took a long time to get my head straight and even that was only after…"**

"After I kicked your ass?" I asked, grinning. Kyuu growled playfully at me. Kushina looked at me, impressed, and my grin widened. "Dattebayo!"

Kushina only chuckled, ruffling my hair. My grin got softer and I met my mother's eyes.

"You're so much like me…" she drifted off, grinning. "Do you like-"

"Ramen?" I guessed. "Second best food in the world."

"Second?"

"I make super crazy amazingly addictive triple chocolate cake, named by Haku and Hinata-chan," I clarified. Kushina- Mom- rolled her eyes, brushing her red hair out of her face. "I know that you can't stay long, your chakra will run out soon. I just wanted you to know; I love you." I tackled my mother in a hug and she paused before wrapping her arms around me.

"I love you too, Naruto-kun," she smiled into my shoulder. We stood, hugging, until she pulled away, sighing. "My chakra won't hold out much longer."

"I know… He he; Konoha's Yellow Flash, the Bloody Red Habanero, and the Kiiroi Kitsune… We're not your average family, are we?"

"I guess not," Kushina laughed. She stopped biting her tongue. "I think it's better that way, don't you?"

"Yeah, my family's already off to a strange start… Hina-chan is still sure that the kits are boys," I smiled. Kushina raised an eyebrow.

"Kit?"

"Really? That's what you have a question about? You aren't worried or anything that I'm going to be a father at sixteen?"

"You've been married for four years," she said, rolling her eyes. "Although I do wish you would've waited a little longer… Anyway, I know you'll be a great father. You've already got the protective instinct down by the looks of things," she grinned. I returned the smile, chuckling.

"It drives Tsunade-obaachan crazy," I laughed, thinking of the many missions I risked healing a minor injury or protecting a teammate when they were capable of defending themselves. My mom laughed with me before frowning.

"I need to leave soon… I need to tell you: I'm sorry for making you the Kyuubi jinchuuriki and for burdening you with this… I wasn't able to live with you, or be the mother you deserved!"

"Don't apologize," I smiled. "I might have been though a lot for being a jinchuuriki, but I never hated you or otousan. You and dad sacrificed your lives for me… I'm glad you were my parents!" Tears found their way to Kushina's eyes and she tackled me in a final hug, her chakra signature dimming. Just before she disappeared completely, I heard her voice in my ear.

"I'm so proud of you, Naruto-kun. I love you," she whispered. I smiled.

"Always and everywhere."

* * *

><p>AN:

Happy-ish ending for the chapter. I decided to have Naruto meet Kushina before meeting Minato, which I thought made the most sense. Since Naruto has been training with Kyuubi for so long, he has a lot more control over his jinchuuriki forms, meaning that he'll have to go all the way to eight- which he's never done in this timeline- to lose control to Kyuubi's instincts. Note: it will be Kyuubi's animalistic nature in charge at that moment, not the super crazy amazingly addictive triple chocolate cake-loving demon we all know and love ^.^

Well, I think I've given enough away for one author's note *evil laugh*

Till next update,

^.^ Susie ^.^


	9. Chapter 9

A/N:

Sorry for the huge delay, I've had a very trying few weeks.

Hope you enjoy the chapter anyway!

I don't own Naruto Shippuden, or anything really. Actually, I own a hitai-ate. That's it, though.

* * *

><p>B and I were greeted with welcome arms back into the Raikage's office. Not exactly welcome, but normal. In truth, I was about to knock on the door when a chair slammed through the wall besides B. He leaned out of its way before poking his head into the office.<p>

"Should we come back later?" I asked cautiously. Tsunade huffed, crossing her arms as the Raikage narrowed his eyes, frowning at her. I exchanged a glance with B before venturing into the office. "What are we having troubles negotiating?"

"Ask the Raikage," Tsunade growled. I sighed, turning my gaze to A.

"What's going on, A?"

"Your Hokage believes that Kumo should lower the price on the emeralds we mine in our mountains."

"And what has she offered in return?" I asked, glancing at the Godaime.

"Empty promises," A growled. I raised an eyebrow at Tsunade, who sighed.

"I offered your cooperation in Kumo's more dangerous missions."

"Tsunade, you and I both know that you can't offer that indefinitely. When I take over as Rokudaime Hokage, I can't guarantee that I'll be able to fulfill that agreement each time Kumo needs me," I pointed out, thinking. "A… What if I offered a more lasting trade?"

"What do you have in mind?" A asked, leaning forward in his chair. I grinned.

"I'm not going to pretend that an emerald trade won't be beneficial for Konoha. Keeping Kumo's interests at mind, I'd like to offer a lowered price on a rare metal not often found in this world."

"What metal?" A said, interested despite his better judgment. I saw Tsunade bite her lip, trying to kill the smirk developing on her face.

"What do you know about blood steel?" I said, leaning on the desk with a grin.

* * *

><p>"Nice doing business with you, A. Let's have that spar sometime, B." I grinned, holding out my fist to the Hachibi jinchuuriki. He met my fist with his own, returning my grin. I shook hands with the Raikage, bowing my head respectfully before walking back to Tsunade, waiting at the village entrance.<p>

"I'll see you again, Naruto," A said, nodding back at me. I grinned before turning my eyes to Tsunade. I held out my arm and she sighed, defeated. She gripped my wrist and I gave a final wave to the two Kumo shinobi. Tsunade shut her eyes and I Hiraishined us back towards Konoha. Opening her eyes, Tsunade studied our surroundings.

"Where are we?" she asked. I glanced at the sun, estimating the time to be about two in the afternoon.

"About two miles away from the village gates," I responded, taking out my mask. Seeing it, Tsunade rolled her eyes.

"I still don't know why you insist on wearing that thing all the time," she scoffed. "And why didn't you just Hiraishin us into Konoha?"

"I thought that you'd rather make the last leg of the journey the traditional way. If we walk out and Hiraishin in, the civilians and shinobi might think there was a problem with the treaty that made us return quickly. This way, we can return to Konoha and not raise any suspicions."

Instead of responding, Tsunade studied my mask in wonder. I grinned under my mask, my hand going to the back of my head once again. At the movement, Tsunade broke out of her trance and coughed, returning attention to her.

"Shall we?" I smirked. Tsunade rolled her eyes, already walking away from me. I caught up easily, laughing at her actions. "So why couldn't you come up with an agreement with A?"

"Not all of us have nearly unlimited resources, Naruto," she rolled her eyes.

"It's not my fault that I know people in high places," I said, pointing at my stomach. Tsunade chuckled to herself, picking up the pace and running towards Konoha.

Konoha came into sight in a matter of minutes, both of us running quickly. We slowed as we approached the gates, not wanting to panic whoever was on guard this day. The chuunin on guard took one look at Tsunade and coughed, the soda he was drinking forgotten as he saw the Godaime Hokage returning with her soon to be successor after nearly two weeks of absence, time that was mainly spent traveling to Turtle Island.

"Naruto," Tsunade said quietly, watching a shape appear over the rooftops, jumping towards us at high speeds. I took off my mask, just in time to see Hina-chan skid to a stop in front of me looking rather pregnant.

"Naruto-kun," she breathed, tackling me gingerly in a hug. I grinned, kissing her on the lips before placing a hand on her abdomen. She chuckled. "Welcome home."

"I love you," I reminded her, catching her lips once again. We stayed like that until I heard Tsunade clear her throat impatiently. I pulled away to raise an eyebrow at her. "Yes, obaachan?"

She growled at the very familiar, fitting, and annoying nickname.

"Be in my office in one hour or you won't be having any more children," she threatened seriously. I swallowed convulsively and the Godaime grinned sadistically. "It's nice to see you again, Hinata."

"Ohayo Tsunade-sama," she greeted, smiling as I kissed her neck. She chuckled, pushing me away so Tsunade could circle around her unobstructed.

"When's your next appointment?" she asked, curious. Hina-chan scowled.

"In an hour or so. Sakura is under the impression that I need to a check up three times a week now," she grimaced. I pouted empathetically and my mate smacked the back of my head lightly. "I blame you."

"In all fairness, we don't know anything about what this pregnancy will be like… This kind of thing didn't happen with Kushina. Actually, it took an entire month _longer _with Naruto," Tsunade shrugged. I glanced at her knowingly- she must have been going through my files again. Tsunade ignored the glance, smiling cautiously at Hina-chan.

I glanced around us before moving closer to Tsunade and lowering my voice so only she and Hina-chan could hear.

"We _do _know what this pregnancy will be like, Tsunade. We left a daughter back in our timeline, born healthy just after three months," I said quietly. Tsunade's eyes widened slightly and she nodded.

"Which we can't tell Sakura because she doesn't know that _we're from the future_," Hinata-chan growled. I wrapped an arm around her shoulders comfortingly.

"You know why we can't tell her… Not yet…" I soothed her. She leaned into me, allowing her anger to dissipate. I glanced at the mate seal on her left shoulder, matching the one on my own shoulder. Both were only partially hidden by our clothing; you could see the head of a yellow fox stretching his neck towards her neck. A golden tail stood shining below the mesh shirt I always wore under my flak jacket.

I glanced again at my own seal, clenching my jaw as I saw the cursed seal of heaven, left over from my encounter with Orochimaru in the Forest of Death. Arriving too late to push Sasuke away from Hebi-teme's bite, I stood in front of him, taking the bite and allowing Kyuubi to track down and kill the part of Orochimaru's soul he had implanted into me.

Following my thoughts through our joint seal, it was Hina-chan's turn to comfort me, hugging me tighter. I gave her a smile before turning back to Tsunade.

"I'll be on time," I promised.

"Good," she nodded. "Grab Kakashi on your way. Make sure he's on time too."

"I can do that," I shrugged. "Just throw the Hiraishin kunai I gave you before we left," I said, referring to the kunai I had retrieved from the Raikage upon B's and my return. She nodded and began walking into the village in the direction of her office. I smiled at Hinata-chan.

"That leaves exactly fifty-three minutes for me to-"

"Naruto-kun!"

I found myself on the ground, a pink haired kunoichi laughing over me. I smiled, contrasting with my sigh.

"It's good to see you again, Sakura-chan," I said, smiling. She stood, holding her hand out to me. I took it, standing again. "How is everyone doing?"

"Same old, same old," she shrugged, beaming. I raised an eyebrow and she released a high pitched squeal. Holding my ears, I grimaced.

"Either someone died, or Sasuke got up the nerve to do what I told him to do two months ago," I said, watching as Sakura lifted her left hand to my eyes. My eyes caught the ring and I recognized it as Sasuke's mother's ring. The ring was simple, a single diamond lying in a gold band with elegant writing inscribed on the inside. I recognized the language as Latin; _est infinita et non moriatur_- love is infinite and never dies. I smiled quietly at the ring as Hinata-chan began congratulating her long time friend. After a while, Sakura looked up, only now realizing what I said.

"You knew he was going to propose?"

"Of course I did," I smiled, pointing at myself, "Best friend here. He wanted my opinion on how he should do it. What did he end up doing?" Sakura blushed and I rolled my eyes. "I only meant, did he take you to Hokage Mountain for a picnic or did he take you to the Forest of Death to see my tree?"

"Our tree," Hinata-chan coughed loudly. I smiled at her genuinely.

"Hokage Mountain… What tree?" Sakura asked curiously. I made a mental note to tell Sasuke to bring Sakura to Training Ground Forty-four when he got the chance.

"Not important for now. I have to go to the- I have to get Kakashi. Tsunade just threw the kunai…" I mumbled, feeling my chakra drawn to the Hokage's office. Sakura frowned thoughtfully.

"Where does he go that makes him late to everything? I've known him for- what, five years?- and I still don't know where he disappears to," Sakura complained. I sighed, not really wanting to explain but not wanting to force Kakashi into explaining. Even after all this time, I'd rather not open that wound.

"He goes to the Memorial Stone," I said quietly, after a long pause. Sakura stopped in her musing, studying my eyes. "He lost a teammate, a friend, on a mission during the Third Great Shinobi War. It was his first mission as a jounin. It didn't start well…"

"What happened?" Sakura asked quietly. Hina-chan wrapped her arms around my waist as best she could.

"You need a little back story first… Kakashi was one of the genin assigned to my father's team, Team Minato. The other two genin were a girl named Inuzuka Rin and a boy named Uchiha Obito. Long story short, Obito loved Rin, Rin loved Kakashi, and Kakashi didn't care about anyone."

"Like Team Seven, back when you still liked me?" Sakura said, glancing at Hinata-chan almost apologetically. I nodded.

"Pretty much," I confirmed. "The mission began badly; the plan was to have Minato attack the front lines of the Iwa line, drawing attention away from the flank so Kakashi's squad could go in and blow up the bridge unnoticed. Before they even separate, they encountered a scout. Kakashi, who had only just invented the Chidori, attacked first. He didn't listen to my dad's warnings and got a katana to the shoulder to prove it. Rin, who was a medical kunoichi, healed Kakashi and they rested, giving Kakashi time to heal before going out again.

"The next day, the teams separated. Minato went to join the outnumbered Konoha ninjas on the front line and Kakashi's team started moving towards the bridge. They were ambushed. Rin was kidnapped. Before I tell you any more, you need to keep in mind that Kakashi is a different person now than he was back then."

"What do you mean; what happened?"

"He-" I wasn't sure how to phrase this, so I spoke bluntly. "He wanted to leave Rin to the Iwa ninjas while he and Obito completed the mission."

"What?" Sakura nearly roared. "What do you mean he wanted to leave her? He's the one that always says, 'those who break the rules and regulations are scum, but those who abandon their teammates are worse than scum!' How could he have just-"

"He didn't. Obito convinced him to go back and rescue Rin," I interrupted her tirade. "They arrived before Rin gave anything away and before she was hurt. Kakashi and Obito fought one of the two ninjas holding Rin captive. Kakashi's left eyes was slashed, leaving the scar you see today. Desperate to protect Kakashi from the Iwa nin, Obito's Sharingan activated for the first time and he killed the ninja.

"They went into the cave, finding Rin tied up next to the last ninja. They underestimated him. The Iwa ninja collapsed the roof and ran outside into the trees. The three ran for the exit, but they were too slow. Kakashi was hit by a smaller rock on his way out. Obito ran back to him, just as a boulder fell towards them. Obito threw Kakashi out of the way and let himself be trapped under the boulder. His entire right side was completely crushed.

"Obito knew he wasn't going to make it. He thought back to before the mission; everyone but Obito had given Kakashi a present for becoming a jounin. Minato had given him a Hiraishin kunai, Rin an emergency medical kit. So, to make up for it, Obito told Rin to transplant his left eye into Kakashi's ruined eye. After the transplant, Kakashi went out to face the Iwa ninja. He killed him with the Chidori, now being able to see any counterstrike thanks to Obito's Sharingan. Obito told the two to leave him and go, that more reinforcements would be coming," I said quietly. "They came. One of them finished collapsing the cave, burying Obito. The Iwa nin surrounded them. Kakashi charged another Chidori and my father followed the Hiraishin seal on the kunai he had given Kakashi. He dealt with the rest of the shinobi and they completed their mission before going back to Konoha to mourn."

After a long pause, Sakura met my eyes, surprising me with tears.

"What happened?" she asked vaguely.

"Kakashi kept living. He picked up Obito's attitude, including his inability to think up a convincing lie. He was in the Konoha police for a while, learning more about the Sharingan from the Uchiha, who founded it. He became an ANBU and eventually adopted me. Rin eventually left the village. She didn't say goodbye, only leaving a note saying not to look for her."

"Do you know where she is?" I shook my head at Sakura's innocent question.

"I'm sure I could find her, but I won't go looking for her. If I find her, I'd have to tell Kakashi. If I tell Kakashi, he'll try to get her back to the village."

"Would that be such a bad thing?"

"Sakura, imagine that Sasuke died in a mission that I was in charge of. Now imagine that, minutes before he died, he had you give me one of his eyes. Could you, after finding out how much he loved you, stay in this village, looking at my eyes every day? Rin left for a reason, Sakura. I won't be the one to open those wounds again. If Rin wants to be found or wants to come back, she knows that it's an open invitation."

Kissing Hinata-chan one last time, I waved to the girls and began walking to the memorial stone.

* * *

><p>"Kakashi," I said, announcing my presence. Kakashi glanced up at my voice, nodding.<p>

"Hey Naruto. What's- What are you-" He tried to pull away weakly as I gripped his elbow. I closed my eyes, focusing on the Hiraishin kunai currently lodged in the ceiling of the Hokage's office. I heard a flurry of movement and I opened my eyes, doing a front flip before landing steadily on my feet, unlike Kakashi. He stumbled, holding a hand to his head and I chuckled.

"And that is why you close your eyes when Hiraishining," I said condescendingly. Kakashi only grumbled as he tried to settle his swimming head as I glanced at the clock. "Ooh, we're on time too."

At my words, Kakashi met my eyes, horrified. I smirked, knowing that I probably just ruined his well earned reputation. I averted my eyes when Tsunade cleared her throat.

I glanced around the room, counting off the clan heads and some of the other jounin.

"Who can guess why we're here?" Tsunade asked cheerfully. A young jounin, about seventeen and just promoted to jounin, was the first to guess.

"To talk about how the treaty went?" he volunteered.

"That's part of it. The other part is that we have an interesting situation on our hands," she said, her eyes resting on me pointedly. I nodded, stepping to the front of the room.

"I'm sure we all know of the Akatsuki, or at least have heard rumors," I said, watching as the whisperings in the group grew louder. "Quiet down. I'd like to personally clarify that they will be going after me before too long." Once again, the whisperings grew louder until Kakashi sighed and turned to glare at the ninjas.

"Will you all shut up? Let him talk," he ordered. I nodded at him before studying the jounin. The newer jounin looked stressed, the older generation hiding it behind careful layers of emotionless façade.

"The interesting part that Tsunade mentioned is the fact that I know exactly who the leader is, as well as his-" I stopped, feeling a presence outside the room. I sighed, recognizing it. "Tsunade, if I may…?"

"Go ahead," she shrugged. I concentrated chakra to my hand before forcing it into the north wall of the office. A scream of protest later, and I held Konahamaru in my hand.

"Konahamaru, give me one good reason as to why I shouldn't Hiraishin you to Kumo and let you walk back," I growled, holding the genin up. He seemed unfazed, grinning.

"Because you'd miss me?" he offered. I narrowed my eyes slightly.

"Konahamaru," I stressed. "This is a serious meeting. I need to report the situation to the other _jounin_- as in, not _you_."

"But, oniichan," Konahamaru whined. I sight, releasing him.

"Go to Training Ground Seven. I'll meet you there when I'm done here," I said, pointing him to the door. He left, albeit slowly and sulkily, and I sighed when he was gone. "Sorry about that. I can't tell him some things."

"Just get on with it, Naruto," Tsunade sighed, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Hai; I know who the leader is and where he is. I am planning a preemptive strike of sorts that I feel that you should know about. I'm telling you this because, if this attack fails I can guarantee that I've been captured and Kyuubi will be taken out of me." I glanced at Kakashi. "This wouldn't be as much of a problem if-"

"If the process didn't kill you," he finished. I nodded, smiling tightly.

"Exactly. That is why this attack will not be held for at least another month, so I and the team I am taking with me can prepare." The shinobi turned their eyes to me anxiously and I glanced towards Tsunade. The Slug Sannin sighed before leaning back.

"Naruto is leading a four man squad made of Jiraiya, Shikamaru, and Sasuke," she clarified. Shikamaru sighed, muttering troublesome.

"Sasuke is still a chuunin," one of the jounin protested. I turned my eyes to the kunoichi, raising an eyebrow. She quieted under my gaze.

"The only reason Sasuke is still a chuunin is because he wants to defeat me during his jounin exam. Lasting ten minutes will never be enough for him, he is an Uchiha at heart," I stated. Shikamaru sighed again.

"Do I have to go?" he asked tiredly. I chuckled.

"Yes you do," I said, rolling my eyes before getting serious. "We are facing extremely dangerous ninja, taught by Jiraiya himself. Not only is he strong, being taught by one of the legendary Sannin, he also possesses the Rinnegan. I need a strategist just as much as we need raw power to take them down."

A few ninjas looked at me in disbelief as I mentioned Nagato's dojutsu, the others too young to have heard of it. Tsunade studied the faces of the ninjas before nodding decisively.

"That said, I'd like to announce that the treaty was more successful than I had hoped. The Raikage has agreed to assist in battle if we are ever caught by a dangerous enemy as well as a trade proposition. Kumo has agreed to lower the prices on their emeralds in exchange for a lowered price on blood steel."

"Blood steel?" Shikaku raised an eyebrow. "How exactly did we come upon enough blood steel to make this worthwhile for both nations?"

"You've probably heard of how Mount Myoboku produces toad oil that is not found anywhere else in the world; the home of the demon foxes lies on rich blood steel reserves. The supply of blood steel makes it less valuable than it is in the human world and my connections with the court allows me to arrange a trade between Konoha and Tiantan, the demon fox capital. Yuriko, Kyuubi's eldest daughter, has already agreed to the proposal as long as the trade is monitored by demon foxes." Glancing around the room, I smiled, satisfied that my part was done.

"Good," Tsunade nodded. "That's all; dismissed!"

The shinobi disappeared quickly at the dismissal, returning to the streets of Konoha. Just as I was about to jump out of the window, as one of the last to leave, Sakura burst through her shishou's door. Tsunade looked up, surprised.

"What is it, Sakura?"

"It's… Hinata-chan…" she gasped, breathlessly. "I can't find her anywhere. She's never late for an appointment." I closed my eyes, holding back a panic as I searched for Hinata-chan's necklace charm. Sakura was right; she wasn't exactly in the village. I opened my eyes, glancing at Sakura.

"She's okay, she's safe," I reported. "Sakura, you should come with me. You're the one that wanted to see our tree," I shrugged. Her eyes lit up suspiciously before darting to Tsunade. The Godaime nodded.

"I don't have anything for you to do," the blonde kunoichi reported. Sakura nodded before looking at me. I smiled dangerously.

"Get ready to run," I warned, already leaning out of the window. Sakura sighed, waving to Tsunade as she followed me out of the window, already running across rooftops.

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><p>AN:

Hope you liked it!

^.^ Susie ^.^


	10. Chapter 10

A/N:

Lol, I laughed at a few of the reviews I got. No, Hinata is not giving birth. The babies aren't ready *rolls eyes* (No, I don't think three month pregnancies should be physically able to be premature)

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><p>Haruno Sakura stood, with widened eyes, at the gates to training ground forty-four. I chuckled at her expression and she smacked my arm, her eyes now worried.<p>

"Don't laugh! Your wife is _alone_ in the _Forest of Death_!" she scolded. I smirked.

"Hinata-chan has done just as much damage to these woods as I have. Everything in there already knows to leave her alone, just like me. Anyway, I know where she is. Keep up," I grinned teasingly. Sakura grinned in response, leaning forward. I took a short running start and jumped easily over the tall fence, followed closely by Sakura. I took off running in the trees, following my memory and my Hiraishin seal to my favorite training site.

The field hadn't changed much in the past four years. I kept it reasonably maintained, smoothing out the bigger craters and recollecting the discarded kunai and shuriken from time to time. There was still a large pond at one end of the football field sized clearing, more evidence of my training with Sasuke back in his genin days.

I walked slowly to my tree before jumping into its branches the old fashioned way, landing on the branch I had designated as my own the first time I discovered the view it offered. Hina-chan leaned against the trunk from her own branch, a foot closer to the ground than my branch. She smiled, hugging her abdomen as the wind played with her dark haired. Sakura walked up the tree, stopping on a branch next to Hinata-chan's. She turned away from the village, her mouth opened to say something before I quieted her.

"Look out at the village," Hina-chan ordered softly. Sakura pouted at being interrupted before she could speak but obeyed, turning back to Konoha. Her jaw dropped slightly as she took in the view.

"You can see the whole village from up here…" she murmured. I nodded.

"I took Sasuke up here, back during our days at the Academy, about a week after the Uchiha massacre. Sasuke was impatient; he wanted me to teach him everything I knew so he could kill Itachi as soon as possible."

"He's different now," Sakura defended. I nodded.

"I know, I know," I said quietly. "Anyway, I told him to sit down and look out at the village. I told him to watch the village all working in perfect balance; the good, the bad, the rich, and the poor: all trying to make the best of what they were given. That was why I wanted to be Hokage."

"What'd he say?" Sakura asked, curious. I couldn't hold back a laugh.

"He glanced at the village, turned to me, and asked when he could start training," I chuckled, restricting the laugh. "So I started to train him. The next day, I couldn't find him."

"I remember; you told me, Ino, and the rest of Sasuke-kun's fan girls to go look for him," Sakura nodded, remembering the day with a smile.

"Hinata-chan and I found him a few minutes after I told you guys to look for him. He was in his bedroom, back in the Uchiha compound. He was… upset. After we got back from training that first day, Kakashi let slip that I was on level with the Kage and that I could probably defeat Itachi if we ever fought. I told him that I trained to protect, not kill, and he threw my words back at me. He wanted to know where I drew the line between us and Itachi, what made a protector different from a murderer. He asked me why Itachi trained so hard."

"I remember what you said," Hinata-chan said, gripping my hand with her own. "You said that you told him to look at Konoha, just to watch everyone worked in balance. You said that looking for the balance wasn't your idea; an old friend of yours' used to lie on the grass all day, watching the clouds as the world passed around him."

"I said that I learned that everything has a balance to it," I said, taking over. "I realized that there will always be a rich/poor status quo because that's all we've ever known. There will always be one man wanting more than he deserves and another that has more than his fair share. Balance doesn't mean equality; it is peace in the middle of chaos." At Sakura's blank expression, Hinata-chan chuckled.

"Sasuke didn't know what he meant either. I don't think I understood until a few days after," she smiled. I shrugged.

"I said that it was about balance. The stronger Sasuke and I became, the weaker Itachi would seem. I told Sasuke a little bit of my plan; that I'd fail the Academy and graduate as the dead last."

"And then you left," Hina-chan nodded sadly. Sakura's eyebrows met in the middle, confused.

"What do you mean? He was here the whole-"

"No I wasn't," I said, grinning. "I left a clone to go to the Academy, remember? I went back to Gaara, Kyuubi, Shukaku, and my goddaughter, Pyrai." At mention of Kyuubi's granddaughter, Hinata-chan sat up.

"How is Pyrai? I haven't seen her in… I don't even know how long," she smiled. I chuckled, squeezing her hand.

"We can go back to Tiantan after the baby's born," I promised. Hina-chan smiled dazzlingly at me before turning back to the village. "For now, you have to get another checkup."

Hinata-chan groaned, gripping my hand tighter as I closed my eyes. Sakura grabbed my shoulder, seeing what I was doing. The two kunoichi closed their eyes and I Hiraishined to the hospital rooftop. Glancing around, Hina-chan raised an eyebrow.

"When did you put a seal up here?" she chuckled. I shrugged.

"I have seals on the more important places: the Hokage's office, our living room, our field in the Forest of Death, Team Seven's training ground, Hokage Mountain, and Gaara's office."

"You have one in the Kazekage's office?" Hina-chan chuckled. I shrugged.

"He wanted it there in case he couldn't find the kunai I gave him. I still need to get him a necklace…" I remembered, making a mental note to ask the demon fox court smith to make a raccoon charm.

"Come on, you two," Sakura smiled, pulling Hinata-chan gently towards the stairs. She followed the pink haired kunoichi into the hospital, leaving me on the rooftop. I glanced around the village surrounding me before following the two kunoichi into the always busy hospital.

Stopping briefly at the main desk, I followed the head nurses directions to room 112. I stepped in the door just as Sakura turned her eyes to the ultrasound machine across from Hina-chan. My mate sniffed the air before turning her head to smile at me, motioning me closer.

Holding Hina-chan's hand, we watched as Sakura pointed out a hand, a foot, another hand. Hinata-chan grinned victoriously when Sakura reported that both twins were male.

"I called it," she reminded me. I nodded, chuckling.

"Yes, you did," I agreed, again not wanting to trigger a hormonal attack. Hina-chan's smile softened and she leaned her head into my shoulder.

"Have you thought of any names?" Sakura asked, beginning to pack the machine up. She passed Hinata-chan a tissue, wheeling the machine to the other side of the room.

"Hmm… I was thinking…" Hina-chan murmured thoughtfully. I followed her thoughts through the seal, smiling at what I heard.

"I like it," I decided. Sakura glanced back at us, confused.

"What do you mean? She didn't say anything," she pointed out. I nodded, glancing at the mate seal on Hina-chan's shoulder.

"We can-" I paused, not sure how to put thoughts to words. Hina-chan took over.

"Do you know the tattoo we both have?" she asked the pink haired kunoichi. I moved my Sage coat and flak jacket away from the seal so she could see it better.

"What about it?" she asked, watching Hinata-chan shift her hospital gown so she could display the mate seal.

"It isn't really a tattoo," I smiled. "It's a type of seal. It means that we're a mated pair, soulmates. If you ever go to Tiantan, or see mated demon foxes, they usually have some type of seal or mark on their fur to show that they're… taken, in a way."

"There's more to it than that, though. I can't really describe it… The seals act as a bridge of sorts between our minds. We can pick up emotions, thoughts, from the other, no matter how far apart we are. I thought the names that I want to name our kits and Naruto-kun followed my thoughts."

"That's so…" Sakura drifted off, not sure how to continue. She thought about it before her eyebrows met in the middle. "But you've had those seals as long as I remember. You had them when we first met."

"Remember, the seals don't just say that we're mated. They say that we've found our other half. It sounds a little corny, but Kyuu described it as a way to find your perfect match. When you meet the other person, the seal appears. I met Hinata-chan at her fifth birthday party and both of us have carried the mark ever since," I shrugged.

"It's a demon thing apparently. I didn't really find out what it meant until Kyuubi talked to me about it," Hinata-chan said, only half lying. We hadn't discovered what the seal meant until after it happened. Haishi was not very happy; not only were we unmarried, but she apparently had a tattoo as well.

"So let me get this straight- ever since you were five, you could read the other's mind?" Sakura said in disbelief. I glanced at Hina-chan, nodding.

"Basically," I shrugged, bringing Hinata-chan's hand to my face. I kissed the back of her hand before standing. _I won't leave for Ame until after the twins are born._

Hinata-chan's eyebrows met concernedly and she frowned.

"_You shouldn't be leaving at all. It's too dangerous."_

_I'll be fine. I'll have Ero-sennin, Shikamaru, and Sasuke with me. No one is going to get hurt. I won't let this mission get violent, not right after Sasuke worked up the nerve to propose._

"_He really does love her, doesn't he?" _Hinata-chan thought, smiling at the pink haired kunoichi. I chuckled.

"He really does," I answered aloud. Sakura looked between us, impressed.

"Were you two just…?"

"Can you tell my baka of a husband that I have every right to be worried?" Hinata-chan growled. I sighed- mood swing time.

"What did he do this time?" Sakura sighed, glaring at me for Hina-chan's benefit.

"He's leaving on a-" I jumped forward, putting a hand on my mate's mouth.

"I need to talk to Sasuke about it first. The less people to know about this the- OW! ... Did you just bite my hand?"

"Yes I did," she smirked. "Sakura has just as much of a right to know as Sasuke. He did just propose to her and all," she pointed out. I sighed, not wanting to argue over something so insignificant. I glanced at the door, making sure it was closed before turning back to Sakura, looking at me now expectantly.

"I'm going to be leading a mission outside of Konoha in a month or so, after our kits are born. It won't be an easy mission if things don't go to plan."

"Who's going?" Sakura asked sounding slightly strained.

"Myself, Jiraiya, Shikamaru, and Sasuke, if he agrees to come," I added. "This will be a high S-rank mission."

"Meaning that if things don't go to plan, you're going to give yourself up to save the rest of your team," Hina-chan muttered, clenching her fist. I didn't deny it.

"Hina-chan," I said, getting her attention. I cupped her face in my hands and she closed her pale eyes at the contact. "I already told you: I won't let anyone get hurt, especially not my teammates. You should know that I can take him," I said gently. Hinata-chan didn't open her eyes.

"_I know that… Of all people, I know that," _she thought softly. I saw flashes of Pain's invasion flicker through Hinata-chan's mind. _"That was the first time that I told you I loved you."_

_And I was still stupid enough to go after Sakura. _I clenched my jaw, closing my eyes. I opened them when I felt a cool hand reach up to meet my hand, still on Hina-chan's jaw. Hinata-chan's lavender eyes smiled at me and I grinned back.

"It wasn't your fault," she murmured. I sighed.

"Yes it was. I could have handled the situation so much better than I did," I said, shaking my head. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of pink and remembered that Sakura was still in the room. I pulled away from Hina-chan and met her eyes. "What were we talking about?"

"You giving yourself up to let everyone else escape," Hina-chan reminded me. I shook my head, holding back a laugh. It was futile; the raven haired girl could follow my thoughts and see the humor running through them. She narrowed her eyes dangerously. "And what is so funny?"

"It isn't really funny… It's just that… I slipped away from Konoha when I was seven. I successfully made the Yondaime Kazekage afraid for his life. I've raised an apprentice. I've developed a spy network more thorough than Jiraiya's. I'm the Kitsune-sennin, Kiiroi-Kitsune, and- if Kyuu hadn't killed Hebi-teme- would have been the Kitsune-sannin."

"I don't think there will really be a Neosannin. Jiraiya couldn't teach you anything you haven't learned and Sakura could have probably learned just as much from you."

"But I couldn't have been her shishou like obaachan is," I pointed out. "Anyway, my point is that half the world is terrified of me, the other half is happy they're allied with me, and you always worry if I'm going to come home," I said, smiling at my mate. She rolled her eyes.

"That's my job. Just like Sakura will worry every time Sasuke gets home a few days late from an out of village mission," Hinata-chan shrugged. I smiled, nodding slightly.

"Okay, you're free to go," Sakura smiled, handing Hinata-chan back her civilian clothes: a short dress and dark leggings ending in bandages. Sakura glanced at me pointedly and I rolled my eyes, turning around so Hina-chan could get changed.

The theatrics over, Hinata-chan walked calmly over to me, kissing me on the cheek before saying her goodbyes to Sakura. We left, arm in arm and walking at a leisurely pace towards the Namikaze compound.

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><p>AN:

Another chapter done.

I meant to update yesterday, but I was so tired... ZzzzZzzzZzzzzz... still am...

Anyway, I got home around 3, passed out, woke up around 6, and went back to sleep around seven... My entire day was compromised of school, sleeping, eating, and more sleeping. My life is so pathetic -.-'

In other news, I've recently become addicted to yet another band. Technically two. I'm not sure if I've gushed on and on about my new favorited yet tragically _under_rated band: Zebrahead. They. Are. FANTASTIC! 3

Next on my addictions is the cover band Boyce Avenue. They've mostly Youtube-centric from what I can tell with the occasional tour, and the best cover band I HAVE EVER HEARD! Go look up Skyscraper- Demi Lovato (Boyce Avenue feat. Meagen Nicole acoustic cover). I HATE the original. I heard this and fell in love.

***NOTE: THE REST OF THE A/N IS UNNECESSARY VENTING ON MY PART! NOT RELATED TO ANY OF MY FANFICTION***

***TRANSLATION: IT IS OKAY TO SKIP THE NEXT TWO PARAGRAPHS***

My updates might be a bit slower than usual. There was yet another disaster in my family. If you pay any attention to my profile, you will notice that I lost my grandfather in September and my aunt about two weeks ago. Early yesterday morning, my cousin was in a motorcycle accident. Now, I'm not really a religious person- I'm agnostic-, but this is enough to make me pray. He is out of surgery and the doctors are optimistic.

Oh, and my _other_ cousin (he's kinda distant but we still call him our cousin) had a mini stroke at my aunt's wake. _Fun!__ *_insert sarcasm here*. So, yeah...

Wow... Didn't mean to totally vent to you guys... Sorry if you read all that for nothing...

O.o Susie o.O


	11. Chapter 11

A/N:

Sorry for the long delay in... updates? Anyway, I'm sorry to say that I'm only going to get one update in tonight :(

I spent a lot of time of my other stories; this one got overlooked a bit... But, thankfully, I have another few chapters waiting in the wings so I don't drag out any emotion response on your part...

*yawn* Troublesome... Tired already... It's only 8!

I don't own Naruto... It'd make one awesome birthday present, though ^-^

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><p>~The Next Day~<p>

"Naruto-kun… Naruto-kun, wake up... Come on, you don't want to be late…" I felt a firm hand on my shoulder, shaking me awake. I smiled, catching the hand in my own hand. I sighed, releasing Hina-chan's hand as I sat up, stretching.

"What time is it?" I yawned, glancing out the window.

"About eight o'clock," Hinata-chan guessed, shrugging as she sat up with a little more trouble. I stifled a grin as she sighed, hugging her stomach. "They should just get born already," she repeated. I nodded in agreement.

"Don't you feel bad for other women? They have to wait six more months than you do," I pointed out, standing up. I turned towards my mate, leaning down to kiss her on the forehead. Chuckling, Hinata-chan tipped her head up so I caught her lips. All too soon, I had to pull away and get ready for the day.

"Can you take it easy on this team?" Hinata-chan asked, pouting. I chuckled, remembering the past five teams I had failed. I had taken on a total of six teams ever since I had become a jounin. Only the original Team Seven, with Sasuke and Sakura passed my expectations. The older Academy students had begun to call me the 'Jounin Sensei of Death'. If I was your sensei, you were doomed to another year of Academy, no questions asked.

"No guarantees," I smiled, grabbing my Sage coat once again. My morning routine sped by, ending at the living room like always. Hinata-chan was, once again, curled up on the couch with a bowl of cereal and a scroll, this one detailing theory on various Namikaze jutsu including my father's original techniques.

"Don't fail them too quickly," she ordered. I chuckled, leaning down to give her a final kiss before running to Tsunade's office. I leapt through the window, as usual, and easily joined the gathered jounin. Neji and Shikamaru were here, as well as the jounin sensei from the Konoha Eleven, waiting for the new team assignments. We all had an idea of who we'd be teaching, this meeting was just to finalize it.

Tsunade looked up to check if all of us were here. She raised an eyebrow at Kakashi, on time, before returning to the papers on her desk.

"Time to assign the next generation of brats and- I mean, genin… Okay team assignments…" she ran through the list quickly. I looked up at her when she assigned Team Seven, the number I requested as per usual. "Team Seven will be… Higurashi Miru, Uchiha Fugaku, and Hyuuga Hanabi."

Whispers rose through the gathered jounin. Dojutsu were rare, they were usually distributed more evenly among the rookie teams. This year's team seven would have two, three including my demon eyes. Tsunade finished reading her list before dismissing us. Before she dismissed us, she looked directly at me.

"We have a lot of potential in this batch; almost as much as the Konoha Eleven according to Iruka. That doesn't mean that they should be tested any easier. If anything, you should raise your expectations." She glanced around the room before nodding. "Dismissed!"

* * *

><p>The Academy hallway was, once again, filled with jounin. I chatted with Shikamaru, waiting for Iruka to finish his annual speech on what it meant to be a ninja. When he finished, he ran through the team assignments. The teams flew by with mixed reactions before he announced Team Seven.<p>

"Team Seven will be Higurashi Miru, Uchiha Fugaku, and Hyuuga Hanabi. Team Eight will be Sarutobi Konahamaru, Tako Udon, and Utada Moegi. Team Nine will be…" Iruka continued listing teams. I turned back to Shikamaru.

"So how's Temari? I haven't seen her in a while," I commented. Shikamaru only sighed. I rolled my eyes, chuckling. "Anyway, I need to see you later, in private. I think we should start planning."

"Do you have enough information on the guy to make it worthwhile?" he asked sounding tired, as always. I nodded.

"Of course I do," I smiled. "Can you come over to my place, around dinnertime tomorrow? I'll make cake," I bribed. Shikamaru, the world's laziest ninja, paid closer attention at mention of cake.

"Chocolate?" he asked suspiciously. I laughed.

"My super crazy amazingly addictive triple chocolate cake," I corrected, still chuckling. Even Shikamaru laughed under his breath before glancing at the door.

"This is so troublesome," he muttered, watching Iruka give his trademark smile to this year's potential genin and ninja dropouts.

"Tell me about it; I have my best man's nephew, Tenten's younger sister, and Hinata-chan's younger sister all on the same team," I sighed. Shikamaru nodded, leaning against the wall. "I hope I don't have to fail them too…"

"Is that so, 'Jounin Sensei of Death'?" a familiar voice asked behind me. I turned, returning Sasuke's friendly smile.

"I have Fugaku on my team," I told him. He nodded.

"Sakura told me," he explained. It was my turn to nod. "So am I invited to the planning?"

"It depends, is Sakura letting you come on the mission?" I stifled a grin. Shikamaru sighed, muttering 'troublesome'. Sasuke was careful to maintain his neutral expression and I laughed under my breath. "Sure. Why don't you bring Sakura over for dinner tomorrow? Hinata-chan can keep her busy."

"If you say so," Sasuke shrugged. We fell silent as Iruka stepped out of the classroom and the first jounin walked in, announcing his team number.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei," I greeted, smiling. Iruka smiled back.

"What's going on?" he asked. Shikamaru sighed, muttering to himself again. Iruka glanced at him before chuckling.

"What?"

"Some things never change," he responded. "So why's everyone so jumpy today?" Sasuke shifted his weight closer to me, probably subconsciously. The movement was not left unnoticed by the Academy instructor.

"What do you mean?" I asked innocently. Iruka turned to question Shikamaru but the young jounin said his goodbyes before poking his head through the door, calling for Team Three to meet him at the Hokage Monument.

Iruka moved his eyes to me, Sasuke already leaning out of the window. I watched him, rolling my eyes.

"Stealing my moves," I accused good-naturedly before turning back to Iruka. "Anyway, want to go out for ramen? My treat."

"Maybe some other time," he shrugged nonchalantly. I narrowed my eyes; it wasn't often I offered to pay and Iruka loved ramen almost as much as I did. I sniffed the air suspiciously before grinning knowingly.

"Date with Anko?" I asked, grinning. Iruka blushed and smiled innocently, scratching the back of his head nervously. "I'll take that as a yes," I chuckled, walking past him into the classroom. I noticed how everyone held their breath, wondering which team would be so unfortunate as to get the 'Jounin Sensei of Death'. I paused, smirking as the tension in the room grew.

"Oniisan!" Konahamaru grinned. I smiled at him.

"Hey, Konahamaru-niichan. Don't worry, you're off the hook," I said, chuckling when he visibly relaxed. "Team Seven, meet me on the roof, no complaints."

I Hiraishined away, hearing the sighs of relief and clenched fists. I walked around the roof, deciding where I'd stay this time. I created a shadow clone, both of us activating chameleon jutsu and hiding at opposite ends of the rooftop.

I heard my team coming up the stairs and decided on a universal fact of ninja life. In each team, no matter what generation or skill set, there was always a set status quo. There was the quiet, shy, and good-natured person; a loudmouth; and a silent, cool, and usually moody type. Team Seven: good-natured was Sakura, more or less; I was the loudmouth; and Sasuke was always the indifferent, aloof type. Team Eight: good-natured always went to Hina-chan; Kiba was almost as much of a loudmouth as I was; and Shino hardly said a word. Team Ten: Chouji was nice when he wasn't eating; Ino was one of the loudest, most talkative kunoichi I had ever met; and Shikamaru was too bored to speak most of the time. Team Minato: Rin was always fair with everyone; Obito would never stop goofing around; and Kakashi was a stickler for the rules. Nothing could change that law of nature and, hearing my team, nothing was about to try.

I knew, just from listening to her part in the conversation, that Hina-chan had definitely changed her sister for the better. Instead of the conceited Hyuuga princess, she sounded honestly worried if her team would pass or be sent back to the Academy like all the other teams I had tested. I immediately tagged her as the good-natured member.

Higurashi Miru was Tenten's younger and only sister. She had brown hair, pulled back out of her face in a long braid reaching her lower back. She shared her sister's taste in clothing; a simple Chinese style top- sky blue instead of pink- and loose fitting pants. I've heard good things about her, only counteracted by her miserable grades and penchant for speaking out. She was a fighter, stubborn and easily challenged. Obviously the loudmouth.

Uchiha Fugaku was a something of a curiosity. He was more like Itachi than most of the Academy teachers wanted to admit. He was just eight years old and had already graduated the Academy. He was quiet but had a strange aura around him. You could tell, even as young as he was that he would eventually be a formidable opponent. His silence seemed to radiate a subtle confidence, understated but enough to make Sasuke train him, one on one. He was a match for the third slot: calm, confident, and silent.

The three potential genin all arrived on the rooftop, glancing around. It was no secret that I used a chameleon jutsu to study my team before they got to see me. Each team I had learned that they had to find me or I'd make their test even harder.

After searching with their eyes and ears for a moment, Hanabi closed her eyes in concentration before forming a seal. She opened her eyes, Byakugan activated, and resumed her search. Smiling, she pointed to me before frowning and pointing to another spot. I nodded approvingly at her, deactivating the chameleon jutsu. My clone mirrored me and we both walked towards our team, surround them.

"Now-" I began.

"Which one-"

"Is the real-"

"Me?" my clone finished. Hanabi's eyes narrowed in frustration and I stifled a smile. "I'll give you a hint-"

"One of us will disappear," I said, glancing around the team. My shadow clone nodded and dispelled himself, my team turning to look at me. "Hanabi-chan, I showed you that for a reason. Not even the Byakugan is perfect, remember that," I said pointedly. She nodded, her eyes shifting to the ground. I smiled, sitting on the ground. "Introductions time! Tell us your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams."

"You first, sensei," Miru ordered. I chuckled.

"Okay, then. I'm Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto. I love Hinata-chan, I like ramen and foxes. I don't like people who think they're better than other people and people who take more than what they deserve. My hobbies are sparring with Sasuke and Sakura, learning new jutsu, and traveling the world. My dream is to see my sons born and eventually pass on the Namikaze jutsu. And I will become the Rokudaime Hokage and surpass my father, Yondaime Hokage. Miru, you're next."

"My name is Higurashi Miru. I like hanging out with my neechan and sparring with Hanabi-chan. I don't like people who don't have to work for what they have. My hobbies are training, sparring, and going shopping!" Even Fugaku sweat dropped. "My dream is to become the best kenjutsu master in Konoha!"

"I think I can help with kenjutsu," I smiled quietly, turning towards Hanabi. "Hanabi-chan?"

"Hai. I'm Hyuuga Hanabi… I like sparring with my neechan and Neji-kun. I don't like how most of my family treats other people. My hobbies are hanging out with my neechan and her husband," she said, smiling at me. "And my dream is to change the Hyuuga clan."

"Very nice," I said, sincerely. "Fugaku?"

"Uchiha Fugaku… I like training with Sasuke-ojisan and Naruto," he smirked towards me. "I don't like people talking about my father," a pointed look to his teammates, "and my hobbies are training with Tera-oneechan and hanging out with Sasuke-ojisan. My dreams don't concern any of you," he said, sealing the deal on 'silent, cool, and usually moody'.

"Good," I nodded. "I'm giving you three a choice; you all know by now that there is a second test to really make you genin nin. You can choose if you want to take it today or tomorrow morning." I yawned. Miru exchanged a glance with Fugaku before turning back to me.

"We'll do it today," she announced. I nodded.

"Meet me at training ground seven in… let's say an hour. Bring everything you need," I said routinely before staring the three down, trying not to laugh. Miru gulped and my face broke into a smile. "That's all, ja ne!" I Hiraishined to Heiki no Senmon, the weaponry store ran by Tenten and her father.

* * *

><p>AN:

No, Naruto doesn't get the Konohamaru Corps. There's a cliche-line that I won't cross and that completely erases/blows up my line. So, I made up characters, threw Hanabi in the mix, and ta-da! Team 7: Uchiha Fugaku, Higurashi Miru, and Hyuuga Hanabi!

Yes, Miru-chan wants to be a weapons master. Runs in the family.

No, Fugaku isn't _really_ angry.

Yes, Hanabi is going to be adorable. I like portraying her as a weaker character, but she's definitely going to toughen up, especially if she's going to take over from her father as Clan Head *dramatic music*

Hoped you like the chapter!

^.^ Susie ^.^


	12. Chapter 12

A/N:

Just noticed how long I've been off... Sorry 'bout that...

I don't own Naruto, nor am I making any money off of this... unfortunately

* * *

><p>A small bell rang as I opened the door, announcing my presence. Tenten sat up from the front desk lazily, smiling when she recognized me.<p>

"Hey, Naruto," she greeted.

"Hey, Tenten. Do you know if your father finished the-" I stopped talking as Tenten grabbed a box from the inside of the desk. I walked over and she passed it to me. I opened the box, smiling when I saw the three pronged kunai stored within. I transferred the kunai to a scroll.

"I heard you were failing- I mean, taking on another team," Tenten commented. I nodded at the invitation to small talk.

"Yep. In fact, your sister is on my team," I informed her. Tenten's eyes widen and I saw her reach for a wakizashi. I ducked reflexively, sighing, as the blade swung towards me. "Relax, I'm giving this team a chance."

"Who else is on it?" Tenten asked suspiciously. I sighed again.

"It has nothing to do with it but Hyuuga Hanabi and Uchiha Fugaku. Hina-chan asked me to take it easy on this team," I explained. Tenten twirled the short sword in her hand before easily sliding it into a waiting sheath. "So Miru wants to be a kenjutsu master?"

"Apparently. I guess it runs in the family," Tenten said, glancing around the store. I chuckled, nodding.

"Well, it's about time for Zabuza to take on a new apprentice," I shrugged. "If he can't help, I'm sure I could teach her in my free-" My oxygen was suddenly cut off by the kunoichi, her arms now tightening around my shoulders and restricting my lungs. "Can't… breathe!"

"Oh, sorry," she blushed, releasing me. I glanced at the sun, guessing the time and smiling; I was late.

"I'll see you later, Tenten! I have to go test the team," I shrugged, throwing some ryo onto the desk and waving as the bell announced my departure.

* * *

><p>"You're la-"<p>

"Quiet," I ordered Miru. Her mouth shut indignantly. "I was talking to your sister about finding you a kenjutsu teacher, if you pass." I stopped, letting the words sink in. Miru's eyes lit up and she opened her mouth to speak. Once again, I beat her to it.

"I'm giving you three a different test from normal genin teams. This is because I expect more from you than other jounin do. Hate me for it, I don't care. Everything I do is to make you better ninjas in the long run. I've only passed two genin: Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. Sasuke is now an ANBU captain, Sakura is the Hokage's apprentice."

"How is it different?" Fugaku asked quietly. I smiled, holding up the two bells.

"I have two bells. There are two rules to this test: if you get a bell you pass, if you don't get a bell you fail. Simple as that," I said. I took off my Sage coat. I sealed the coat away, making the task just a little easier.

The three began to relax, something I quickly stopped with my growing smile. "Except it isn't; Tajuu kage bunshin no jutsu!" I shouted. Fifty clones appeared out of the smoke around me, each holding two bells.

"The real challenge," a clone began.

"Is that you-" another clone continued.

"Have to-"

"Find the real-"

"Me!" all of us shouted at once. We each held up two bells before attaching them to our belts. As one, we spoke.

"You have until 1 to get a bell. Anyone without a bell gets sent back to the Academy for another year," we said. A clone branched away and set the alarm over the central post.

Each of my clones ran into the woods surrounding the field. I turned my attention back to the genin, smiling darkly.

"I'm playing the defensive in this test," I said, chuckling when Hanabi smiled in relief. "You three can use any weapons, jutsu, or tricks you know to get the bells. Good luck," I grinned, following my clones and Shunshining into the trees. Sitting down on a branch, I began to meditate.

I opened my now red eyes when my clones started to disappear, their memories joining with mine. I smiled; the three genin were working together already.

The three were giving it their all, desperate to pass, but I could tell from the memories that they were tiring out quickly. Deciding to make this easier on them, I canceled the jutsu, leaving only me to target. The genin caught on quickly; Hanabi activated her Byakugan and spotted me just as I closed my eyes again.

Meditating, I followed their chakra signatures as all three rushed over to me. Seeing me sitting still, the genin all hid away in the brush, analyzing me and waiting to make a move. After a while, waiting for them got boring.

"Just attack me already," I complained, my eyes still shut. There was a flurry of movement and Miru ran to meet me head on. I felt Hanabi go to my right, Fugaku behind me. My eyes were still closed as I heard a scroll open and weapons fly through the air towards me. Opening my red eyes, I followed and dodged each shuriken and kunai, ducking in time to avoid a Jyuuken strike from Hanabi. She scowled playfully as I evaded each of her attacks.

"Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu!" I felt the fire before I saw it. I turned, jumping away as Fugaku's technique flew towards me. Hanabi rolled away to the side, nodding at Fugaku. I narrowed my eyes, activation another chameleon jutsu.

"Meisaigakure no Jutsu," I muttered. Miru frowned as I vanished. Fugaku glanced at Hanabi, who nodded as I crept forward. She activated her Byakugan in time to see me in front of her, waving. She leapt back, almost falling in surprise. Fugaku tensed, narrowing his dark eyes as he sniffed the air.

"I can't smell him," he reported, glaring at nothing. Miru rolled her eyes. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing," she shrugged. "It's just…"

"What?" he growled. I stifled a laugh as Miru put on a fake smile.

"The great Uchiha can't find-" she stopped, throwing a shuriken towards me. Instead of letting it pass me, I reached my hand out and caught it roughly. A drop of blood fell from the shuriken, the wound already healing. Fugaku visibly bit back a gasp of surprise. I deactivated the chameleon technique, smiling at Miru.

"How'd you know I was there?" I asked. She shrugged.

"Complete luck," she answered. I sweat dropped, not doubting her. Fugaku sighed at his teammate. The alarm went off in the distance and Miru glanced at me, panicked. I smiled back at her, chuckling.

"Congratulations," I grinned. "You passed."

"WHAT?" Three indignant shouts filled the air. I smiled, remembering Team Seven's original bell test. I may have ended up tied to a wooden pole but that was one of my favorite memories in a long list.

When the complaints and angry shouts died down, I stretched.

"This test is not to test your ability to fight me. I'm a high jounin and in the running for Rokudaime; you'd never be able to defeat me even if I was playing the defensive. The point of this exercise is to make sure that you can work together as a team. You passed because you understood that you couldn't face me by yourselves. I'm telling you that this team, Team Seven, is the foundation for your career as shinobi. It is not my job to shelter you. It is my job to train you into the ground until you are recognized for your strengths. Whether you sink or swim is up to you; it's my job to make sure that you can-" I paused, taking a step onto the pond a clone had created in an attempt to separate the three. "Walk on water. Starting tomorrow, we are Team Seven." I stopped once more, studying the three genin's faces before smiling genuinely. "I think this calls for celebration; you guys want to go out to eat? My treat," I offered. Miru punched the air making Hanabi and Fugaku smile quietly.

"Yosh!" Miru shouted. Fugaku nodded. Hanabi grinned good-naturedly.

* * *

><p>Twenty minutes later, we were sitting down at Ichiraku's Ramen. Teuchi grinned at me in greeting before turning to my team.<p>

"Fugaku, Hanabi-sama," he greeted. "And who is this?" he asked, turning to Miru. She held out her hand confidently.

"Higurashi Miru," she introduced herself. Teuchi smiled and took her offered hand.

"Higurashi as in Higurashi Tenten?" he inquired. Miru nodded.

"Tenten is my oneechan," she confirmed. Teuchi nodded as Ayame walked out from the back, smiling at me and the three genin besides me.

"Hey Naruto-kun," she greeted. "The usual?"

"Of course," I chuckled. Ayame took my team's orders, introducing herself to Miru. "Ayame-neechan, Ichiraku-san, I'd like you to meet the new Team Seven: Hyuuga Hanabi, Higurashi Miru, Uchiha Fugaku, and yours' truly."

"The 'Jounin Sensei of Death' let a team crawl away as ninjas?" Teuchi chuckled, setting a big bowl of miso ramen in front of me. I sighed, breaking my chopsticks apart.

"I would say I'd kill Iruka for spreading that name around but seeing as he has a date with Mitarashi Anko tonight; he'll already be dead," I informed. Miru laughed, stopping when my eyes turned to her. "Do you even know Anko-chan?"

The young kunoichi fell silent, saved by the bowl of pork ramen placed in front of her by Ayame. I laughed under my breath. My humor ended when I felt something strange: a pull on my chakra. I concentrated, following the pull to one of my Hiraishin kunai. _Yugito!_

**The Akatsuki shouldn't be making their move on her yet… **Kyuubi growled. I nodded, standing.

"I need to go," I informed my team. "If anyone sees Tsunade, Hinata-chan, or Kakashi, I went to save Neko-chan from the red rain. No questions; I'll see you in a few hours, two days at most," I hurried, checking to make sure everything was in order. Finding something out of place, I turned to Miru. "Miru, I need the scroll you took from me."

"Sensei-" she began. I shook my head seriously.

"This is life or death, Miru. Give me that scroll, I can teach you kenjutsu when I get back," I said, unsealing my mask. Miru pouted before handing me the scroll containing Raijin no ken, a keepsake from my encounter with Shodai and Nidaime during the Chuunin exams all those years ago. "Ja ne."

I blinked, Hiraishining to Yugito's kunai, just in time to hear Hidan's manic laughter. I growled through my mask, activating akuma no me from my vantage point on the ceiling. I glanced around myself analyzing the trap Yugito had set; explosive tagged kunai were stabbed into the concrete over the pipe from which I could hear Hidan's laughter.

"Get…. Your ass… down here," Yugito shouted, breathless, from the ground. I glanced at her; she wasn't in good shape but she was still able to battle.

I obeyed, jumping down to stand at her side.

"Plan?"

"Don't have one," she shook her head. I thought, stretching.

"My favorite kind," I chuckled darkly. Yugito stared at me and I shook my head. "I haven't had a good fight in a while; two Akatsuki members are just what we needed."

"We?"

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" _Control your chakra, _I begged as Kyuubi stretched his neck painfully. I placed my palm on his too-warm fur, absorbing the chakra he could not control. "Go hide on the-"

"**Quiet, kit, I know," **he nodded sharply before jumping to the opposite side of the room, hiding under a genjutsu on the ceiling. Yugito glanced at where he was, her eyes losing focus as they passed over him. She shook her head, drawing a kunai. I nodded at her, drawing Mizuchi and jumping to the ceiling for an ambush.

"Here, kitty kitty kitty," Hidan smirked, his wide eyes filled with insane excitement. Kakazu sighed, narrowing his eyes as Yugito's face melted into a confident smirk. She took a step back, the tagged kunai exploding and destroying the exit.

"Meow," she growled. She coughed suddenly, muffling the small sound I made as I jumped down and ran forward, Raijin no ken in one hand and Mizuchi in the other. Both swords met their mark: two of Kakazu's hearts. He shouted in surprise and maybe the after taste of pain as neither heart was his to lose. I smirked as Hidan turned around to me in surprise.

"You-" he began. I only laughed at the worshipper of Jashin. He stopped talking, preferring to glare at me, studying my mask before narrowing his eyes further.

"Kiiroi Kitsune," Kakazu named me. I nodded, smirking behind my mask. My red eyes darted to the ground, watching the tendrils of threads approach me under the concrete. I Shunshined to the ceiling just as the threads burst through the ground.

"Funny thing about me," I called down. "I like my heart exactly where it is: inside my chest!" Kakazu kept his eyes narrowed, chuckling humorlessly as he studied me. Deciding, he glanced pointedly at Hidan.

"We're retreating for now," he ordered his sadist partner. The man pouted childishly at the former Taki nin. Kakazu only backed away cautiously from me, his eyes retaining their hate and intelligence.

Black threads spread out behind the former Taki ninja, breaking through the fallen concrete. They back away slowly, weapons raised, before dashing away from us. Sighing in disappointment, Kyuu and I joined Yugito.

"That was much less fun than I thought it'd be," I pouted. Seeing her favor her right leg, I studied Yugito closer, my still red eyes finding injuries here and there. I stepped towards her, my right hand glowing with green energy and ready to help. I was surprised when she flinched away from my hand, her hands flying up to ask for some space. I obliged and a thick layer of blue demonic chakra covered the Kumo kunoichi, chakra that I recognized as the Nibi's. I watched her injuries heal, content that her tenant was evidently willing to help.

"I'll be okay," she spoke quietly. I nodded, sheathing my blades before dusting off my black pants.

"What were you doing all the way out here anyway?"

"Unsuccessfully avoiding those two, apparently," she scowled. I glanced back at their makeshift exit, nodding.

"Do you want me to take you back to Kumo? Or Konoha?"

"Why are you so interested in B and me coming to Konoha?" Yugito chuckled, cracking her neck. I was instantly reminded of Zabuza and I couldn't help but smile. "What?"

"Nothing, it's just something an old friend of mine does. Anyway, I offered Konoha's protection to more than you two. I know it's a foreign concept, but I do actually _care_ about people from other villages," I said making Yugito laugh. "Anyway, I thought you might want to meet my mate."

"Mate?" she raised an eyebrow. I sighed.

"I've spent too much time in Tiantan…" Seeing Yugito's confused expression, I sighed again. "Demon fox capital," I explained briefly, letting the chakra ebb from my eyes returning them to their natural blue. She nodded in understanding. "Point is, I've picked up more fox vocabulary than I'd like to admit. Little things like saying mate instead of wife, vixen instead of girl, kit instead of kid, and making more fun of the Inuzukas than I should."

"The Inuzukas?"

"Konoha clan; they're close with dogs… Fox and hound relationship, I guess. It's pretty funny though. It drives Tsume, their clan head, crazy at council meetings," I laughed, remembering the many council meetings that ended with the Inuzuka head thoroughly confused as I talked circles around her and the other clan heads. Most of the other clans shared my beliefs and thought it was hilarious.

Yugito fell silent, hopefully thinking about my offer. I gave her some time to think, placing my palm back on Kyuu's forehead and sucking him back into my subconscious. I glanced towards the ceiling, searching for the three pronged kunai that was used to alert me into coming. Seeing it, I threw out a chakra thread and pulled the kunai back towards me.

"I think I better go back to Kumo. Thanks for the offer, though," she said. I nodded, holding out my arm. She gripped my wrist tightly, glancing around her.

"You should close your eyes," I advised. Yugito only scoffed and I chuckled, closing my own eyes. "If you say so…"

"Kitsune-sennin!" a surprised shout sounded near me. I opened my eyes to a very terrified the Kumo ninja. Yugito scoffed at the ninja who was evidently keeping watch, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Stand down," she chuckled. She glanced pointedly at my mask and I nodded, my hand rising to the plaster. I resealed my mask into the small storage seal I had sewn onto my vest. "Kitsune is only here to escort me back to Kumo. Thank you, by the way," she smiled at me. I nodded, smiling.

"Hopefully you won't need me next time; I left a hot bowl of ramen back in Konoha," I informed her. She pouted sarcastically and I rolled my eyes before remembering something. I reached into my kunai holster and withdrew a Hiraishin kunai, passing it to the Nibi jinchuuriki. "Try not to blow this one up," I chuckled.

"I'll try. Say hi to Araiguma and Haku for me?"

"Sorry, can't. They're both in Suna. Araiguma decided he'd give being Kazekage a try and Haku moved out of Konoha to live with him," I grinned. Yugito smiled genuinely.

"I thought they had a thing…" she mused. I nodded. "Wait, Kazekage? Since when?"

"About three years; I don't know, that was when I was in ANBU, I couldn't really keep tabs on everyone," I shrugged. Yugito raised an eyebrow and I sighed, turning and pulling my Sage coat down to reveal the ANBU tattoo on my left shoulder.

"Honestly, sometimes I don't think I know you at all," Yugito said, shaking her head contentedly. I grinned.

"There's still a lot you don't know about me, Neko-chan," I chuckled, closing my eyes. "Say hi to A and B for me, will ya?"

"Sure th-" I didn't hear the rest of her sentence, already Hiraishining back to Konoha. I opened my eyes to the view of Konoha from my tree in the Forest of Death. Smiling, I began the long walk back to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, delaying the inevitable.

* * *

><p>AN:

I'll update again tomorrow. And by tomorrow, I don't mean in three minutes. Yes, it is 11:57 in New Jersey. Yes, I am awake. Yes, I have to get up at six to go to school.

...

Who needs sleep? -.-'

-.-' Susie '-.-


	13. Chapter 13

A/N:

As promised, chapter 13!

...

of a story that I **make no money off of** **because _I don't own Naruto!_** :'(

* * *

><p>I jumped to the window in the Hokage's office, watching Tsunade nearly fall asleep over a mound of paperwork. I saw her glance at the ceiling, then at the clock ticking away above the door. I had always hated that clock; it announced just how slow- or how quickly- the day was going by while you were stuck inside, working. I made a mental note to replace, or more likely destroy, that clock when I became Rokudaime once more.<p>

"Hey obaach-"

"Naruto, I am going to _kill you_," Tsunade growled, turning slowly in her chair. I jumped into the office, carefully putting Tsunade in between myself and the window; therefore lowering the chances of being punched outside. Yes, it's happened before; no, it isn't nearly as fun as you might think.

"You aren't even going to ask me what I was doing? Didn't you get my message?" Tsunade cracked her knuckles, standing from her desk.

"You went to save Neko-chan from the red rain. Personally, I don't care that much about Neko-chan. You are the one," she huffed, "endangering yourself for STUPID reasons!"

"I'm sorry, I thought helping _Yugito _would be a better alternative to sitting down with my team and gossiping D-rank missions, knowing that Hidan was going to be his usual cheery self," I said, my voice growing sarcastic. I saw Tsunade's eyes narrow, once again covering up her concern and fear, and I sighed. "You know me too well, obaachan. I can't let myself sit back and relax when I know there are people getting hurt, things that I can stop."

She stood in silence before pulling out a bottle of sake and pouring out two shot glasses. She picked up each glass, forcing one into my hand before downing hers'. I bit back a laugh, drinking the alcohol.

"By the way, you need to pay for some… damages around the village," she hinted. I frowned, completely confused until I felt Hinata-chan's mind brush my own, apologetic and embarrassed. I saw a short memory of my mate beating the crap out of quite a few Konoha shinobi, all either chuunin or jounin and doing a lot of damage to the innocent buildings around her in the process. The ninjas were at a loss to do much, not wanting to battle Hina-chan in her present condition.

I couldn't resist a laugh.

"Somewhere, Hiruzen is laughing his ass off," I laughed. Tsunade poured another round of sake before raising her glass. A few rounds later and my vision began to blur. Ignoring Kyuu's sense of humor I claimed his chakra, allowing it to nullify the alcohol in my bloodstream. The dots on my vision faded and I found myself able to walk in a straight line once more.

"Naruto," Tsunade said. I would have been intimidated by the tone she used if not for the ridiculous grin on her face. "Do that to me again and I will personally castrate you," she threatened, ruining the effect with a hiccup. I shook my head before glancing out into the hall. I spotted Shizune walking towards the office, Tonton sleeping in her arms.

_Time to make my escape. _"I'll come back tomorrow and tell you everything that happened, obaachan. I'm going to head home and make sure Hinata-chan is alright after today," I said to the tipsy kunoichi. She grinned, blushing slightly, and I knew I was in the clear. With a final wave, I leaned out of the window, just in time to hear Shizune open the door as I dropped out of sight.

"Tsunade," the raven haired kunoichi growled threateningly. I felt a wave of killing intent, quite a bit for such a gentle woman. Trying not to think of the inevitable clash happening in the Hokage's office, I Hiraishined to my kitchen. Trying to be the amazingly stealthy and subtle ninja I was, I moved towards the fridge to get a glass of apple juice- yum, apple juice.

I could say that I successfully and silently grabbed and drank a glass of juice before heading off to bed to tell Hina-chan that I was alright. That would be a lie.

Unused to the darkness I found the room bathed in, I took a tentative step forward. Not finding an obstacle barring my path, I moved my other foot more confidently. Contrary to my usually ridiculously good luck, my other foot kicked a chair, pushed away from the table. I knocked the chair into another chair which, of course, fell over. I jumped slightly at the sound of the chair, backing into a wall and hitting my head.

When I finally found the light switch, I grimaced, holding my now throbbing head. I opened my eyes and groaned.

"Does the universe hate me today?" I asked the ceiling. Hinata-chan, standing right in front of the fridge, only laughed at my expense. She put down the glass in her hands- APPLE JUICE- and slowly walked over to meet me, hugging me tightly. "Please tell me you weren't there the entire time," I groaned. Hina-chan chuckled.

"Sorry, saw the whole thing," she grinned, her lavender eyes looking somehow suspicious. If she was wearing the Hokage's hat, I'd suspect that she had videotaped the entire thing. "That was very… adorable of you."

"Great, the Kiiroi Kitsune, Kitsune-sennin, and Rokudaime- adorable," I sulked. Hina-chan pouted empathetically and comforting rubbed circles into my back. "I just wanted some apple juice," I whined. Hina-chan laughed at the irony of it. She pulled away, grabbing her glass and pushing it into my hand. I accepted the glass, using the juice to get rid of the taste of sake in my mouth.

"What happened with Yugito?" she asked as soon as I lowered the glass from my lips. I nodded, swallowing.

"Hidan and Kakazu retreated once they saw me. I managed to destroy two of Kakazu's hearts though: lightening and fire. They left and I took Yugito back to Kumo so she could get the word out about the Akatsuki's mobilization and warn any potential targets. If I hadn't gotten the team today, I'd be visiting them myself," I hinted. Hinata-chan grinned.

"Hanabi-oneechan told me," she said, nodding. "How did they do for the test?"

"Better than I expected them to," I admitted. "I made the test a little more difficult for them, seeing as I have Itachi's son and Hanabi in this team. It was basically the bell test, but with a lot of shadow clones. They'd have to find the real me and steal the bells. They got the concept pretty quickly and destroyed a good number of my clones. I was taking them out for ramen when Yugito threw my Hiraishin kunai. I gave them the message and left," I shrugged.

"When did you say that you'd be back?"

"Anywhere between a few hours and two days. I'll find them all tomorrow and tell them I'm back and such."

"The 'and such' meaning not dead or missing any limbs?" Hina-chan frowned. I smiled at my mate, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. "Anyway, Shikamaru came by. He said he was researching the Rinnegan and that he thinks we might be over our heads."

"We?" I raised an eyebrow. Hinata-chan rolled her eyes, smacking me on the shoulder to make me focus. "Okay, okay… I'll talk to him. Oh yeah, Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Sakura are coming over for dinner tomorrow."

"I think I can keep Sakura busy," Hinata-chan mused. I smiled. "After all, she's going to have to get a start on her wedding; and she did claim the gazebo," she pointed out.

"I almost forgot about that… Anyway, sounds like a plan," I sighed tiredly. "Let's go to bed, I'm exhausted." I put an arm around Hinata-chan's waist and led to our bedroom.

~The Next Day~

I opened the door to Shikamaru's usual bored expression. I glanced behind him to see Sakura laughing under her breath at something Sasuke said. The Uchiha had a small smile on his face.

"Hey guys, come on in," I greeted, opening the door wider. The three ninjas stepped over the threshold and I led them into the living room. Hina-chan came out of the kitchen, smiling at Sakura.

"We've got a lot to plan," my mate pointed at Sakura. I smiled, walking over to her and kissing her chastely. I heard Shikamaru sigh when I pulled away.

"I'll go finish dinner," I excused myself, opening the kitchen door. I glanced around the room and made two clones. The clones finished dinner while I reclaimed the cake from it's hiding spot over the fridge.

"Dinner's ready," I called through the door. I set the table as everyone came into the room and poured themselves something to drink. Dinner was spent retelling stories from various missions and training. Sasuke, being in ANBU for the last two years, probably had some of the best, second only to me.

When dinner was over, I stood and cut the cake while Hinata-chan cleared the table. I brought everyone a slice of my village-famous super crazy amazingly addictive triple chocolate cake and ended the talking, everyone too preoccupied with eating to say much.

**I want some caaaaakkkkkeeeee, **Kyuubi whined inside my mindscape. I laughed to him, visualizing a piece of cake next to him. He sniffed it and took a cautious bite before frowning. **It's not the same.**

_Well, I can't have you destroying my kitchen. Again, _I sighed. Kyuubi pouted.

**That was just one time! **he protested. I shook my head at him, returning to my cake.

When dessert was over, everyone stared at their empty plates, sad that it was over already. I stretched, glancing pointedly at Hina-chan. My mate grabbed Sakura's left hand, surprising the Haruno.

"We should start planning the wedding… You guys don't mind if I steal Sakura-chan for a bit? I think we should start sooner rather than later," Hina-chan said thoughtfully. We all shrugged and Sakura beamed, completely buying it. "Let's go talk to Ino-chan, she's a mind reader when it comes to flowers," Hinata-chan said, pushing the kunoichi out the door. Turning back at us, she winked before catching up with Sakura, already talking about cherry blossoms and lilies.

Shikamaru and Sasuke turned to me, impressed. Sasuke began to clap sarcastically when we heard the front door shut.

"Bravo," he chuckled. Shikamaru sighed as I stood up.

"Let's move to my study," I recommended. I picked up the remains of the cake, carrying it into the hall. I opened a door decorated with Kyuubi that was missing a large square at the bottom, revealing the room I had converted into a kennel for my mortal summons. I whistled through the large room. "Cake!"

Foxes poked their heads out of various nooks and crannies at my call. I put the cake down in the center of the room, chuckling as Koyuki was the first to reach the cake.

"Chocolate," she murmured, already eating. I glanced back at Sasuke and Shikamaru, both frozen at the sight. I wasn't sure if it was the sheer number of foxes or the loss of cake but I got a laugh out of it anyway.

"Ja ne," I chuckled into the room, closing the door. I lightly smacked both of the ninjas' shoulders to get their attention before leading the way to my study.

Like always, the room was lined with shelves laden with scrolls. I sat at the desk, motioning for the other two to pull up a chair. Sasuke glanced around the shelves, his eyes counting the scrolls.

"There are almost a thousand jutsu described on these scrolls, more in the Namikaze records," I told him. "I have them organized by elemental type and rank. Fire, earth, wind, water, lightening," I said, pointing at various shelves. "You can use them if you want, I've finished reading the theory on most of them."

"Thanks," Sasuke smiled at me, getting comfortable. I stood and walked to the shelves, looking for the section I had dedicated to everything I knew about the Akatsuki: their members profiles, their known abilities, locations of bases, and such. It was quite a collection. I pulled a few scrolls- Nagato's and Konan's profiles- off of the shelf and sat back down, grabbing a map from one of the drawers in my desk.

"I've been collecting every scrap of information I could find on this group for the last five or six years," I told them, spreading out the map and circling Ame with a highlighter. "From everything I know of this group, we're going to Ame. The leader goes by the name of Pain but his real name is Nagato," I said, opening his profile. His profile was pretty complete, including sketches Hina-chan had drawn of each Path. Sasuke frowned seeing the seven pictures.

"Why are there seven people in this profile?"

"Nagato possesses the Rinnegan, the dojutsu of the legendary Sage of Six Paths. This dojutsu allows him to animate and control six bodies aside from his own. Deva, Asura, Human, Animal, Preta, and Naraka Paths," I pointed to each picture. "Each body specializes in one specific technique. Asura Path is more robot than human, he has six arms and various missiles and weapons in his arsenal; Animal Path can summon huge creatures; Preta Path can absorb chakra and ninjutsu attacks; Human Path can extract information simply by touching your head, and can rip your soul from your body; Naraka Pain can use a technique that allows him to interrogate or revive those it is used upon; Deva Path can draw others to him or push them away like a magnet."

"So the Naraka is going to be the first target?" Shikamaru said, studying the profile. I could tell he was trying not to psych himself out at the new information.

"Exactly. Don't worry, Jiraiya and I are going for a reason," I said, studying Konan's profile. "Nagato aside, this is Konan. Backstory time: She and Nagato were orphaned during the Third Great Shinobi War, their parents killed by Konoha shinobi. Konan was found by Yahiko, another war orphan, and she eventually found Nagato. The three teamed up and eventually decided that they wanted to become shinobi so they could stop the fighting in Ame. After seeing the Sannin in battle, they followed them into the front. When they met them, Jiraiya offered to teach them ninjutsu and stayed behind."

"So not only are we fighting a Rinnegan, we're fighting a Rinnegan taught by Jiraiya-sama?" Sasuke clarified. I nodded.

"Pretty much. That is another reason as to why I'm leading this mission. Jiraiya has seen me in action and he has seen my Sage mode. He's confident that I could defeat Pain by myself if I needed to, but Tsunade and Hinata-chan would never allow that. Anyway, Yahiko eventually died and Konan became fiercely loyal and protective of Nagato. She's his partner in the Akatsuki, as well as its only female member. She is a master of origami and uses paper in her techniques. She can create exploding tags and shuriken out of her paper. She'll be a tough opponent. You two are going to be fighting her while Jiraiya and I take on Pain."

"So you and Jiraiya-sama are going to fight two against seven while we fight two on one? How does that make any sense, dobe?" Sasuke sighed.

"Hate to break this to you, but we're on a different level than you are, teme," I teased. Sasuke growled. "But seriously, Jiraiya will be going into Sage mode and I won't exactly be holding back if we need to fight. I'm still going to try to end this diplomatically."

"And how do you suggest that?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "The Akatsuki are going after jinchuuriki, right? That means that you're on their checklist."

"I've figured that out, thank you. Again, no offense, but I doubt that you'll be able to bring Konan down for a substantial amount of time, let alone kill her. I wasn't kidding when I said she was protective of Nagato; she'll retreat to protect him when the other Paths are defeated. Let me do all the talking, I know to do."

"The Naruto-effect at its best," Sasuke smirked. I raised an eyebrow and he chuckled. "That's what Tsunade calls it; your ability to convince people to see things your way and make them trust you."

"The Naruto-effect," Shikamaru repeated, thinking. "You have a point."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, shaking my head.

"And its even better that you don't even know you're doing it," Sasuke commented. I chuckled to myself; I knew all about that ability, I took advantage of it at every moment I could.

"I know about it, I just didn't know it had a name now," I rolled my eyes. "Anyway, we're supposed to be planning here."

"We can't really plan that well if we don't know how they'll initially react," Shikamaru pointed out. I thought back to the report I had seen about Jiraiya's recon trip to Ame in the last timeline, the mission he had died on.

"I agree. We need to figure out how we'll infiltrate Ame. They're still on lockdown, not letting anyone in or out if Nagato and Konan can prevent it. Nagato is leader of the village as well as its deity."

"What happened to Hanzo of the Salamander? I thought he was in charge?" Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. I nodded.

"Nagato killed him, his family, his friends, and everyone remotely associated with him," I reported. Sasuke scoffed.

"Great, we're going after a homicidal maniac."

"Trust the Naruto-effect," I smirked. "Anyway, I have a history of converting homicidal maniacs. Don't you remember your first C-rank mission?"

"That was different, you knew Zabuza."

"Actually, I was talking about Haku," I chuckled. Shikamaru sighed, muttering to himself. "Anyway, Nagato felt justified in killing Hanzo. The teme made Nagato kill his first best friend, Yahiko, in exchange for Konan's life before stabbing them in the back-again- and trying to take all three out at once.."

"You really did your research," Shikamaru nodded approvingly.

"Years of traveling," I shrugged. "That and I also have a spy in Akatsuki's ranks. I should be getting another report any day now; he keeps me updated."

"How did you get a spy in the Akatsuki? They're supposed to be super exclusive and careful."

"I told you I had a history of converting homicidal maniacs. I found him right in the planning stage of the massacre he orchestrated. I couldn't stop him without endangering Gaara, who was only six, so he got away with it. I found him again and convinced him to join the Akatsuki and be my spy. In return, he got my silence from the survivors," I explained truthfully. Sasuke and Shikamaru both nodded and I glanced at the papers around me.

"We aren't going to get anything done, are we?" I sighed.

"Probably not," Sasuke shrugged.

"This is so troublesome…" Shikamaru muttered.

"I'd say that we should find Hina-chan and Sakura, but I've had enough wedding planning for one lifetime. Besides, I'm going to have to go to Suna at some point for Gaara's… Speaking of Suna, when are you going to work up the nerve, Shika?"

The Nara only sighed, shaking his head. Sasuke and I just laughed at his expense.

"Marriage isn't a bad thing," I chuckled. Shikamaru glanced tiredly at me before staring down at the floor. "Just a tip, don't screw it up or Gaara will kill you," I hinted. The Nara slumped further and I decided to turn my humor onto Sasuke. "Even Mr. Rebuild-My-Clan proposed."

"Remind me why I haven't killed you yet?" Sasuke growled. I chuckled.

"Because you'd miss sparring with me? Because I used to keep the fan girls away from you when we were in the Academy?" I shrugged. Sasuke smiled, remembering those days.

"I remember that; Ino almost killed you," he chuckled. I shook my head.

"No, she almost killed my clone," I corrected. "I was already out of Konoha by that point. I left when I was seven. I came back when I heard about the… when I heard what happened to your family. The person who took you out to ramen that day was my clone," I lied. Sasuke clenched his fist but I continued. "I didn't leave again until a week after, right after I started training with you. After that, for almost a year, it was my clone doing all the work while I was outside of Konoha."

Silence fell and I stood, stretching.

"It's getting pretty late," I said, glancing out of the window. "Why don't we try to get something done when Jiraiya gets back?"

"When should he be here?"

"Tsunade sent for him a few days ago but that might take some time. I sent some chakra through the kunai I gave him though, so he should know to come back. If I don't hear back in a few days, I'll send a toad after him." The two ninjas nodded and stood, walking towards the door. At the door, Shikamaru paused.

"I'll catch up; I have to talk to Naruto about something," Shikamaru said. Sasuke nodded and continued walking. When I heard the front door close, Shikamaru turned to me, determination and questions in his usually bored eyes.

"So what's up?" I asked nonchalantly. I was expecting Shikamaru to figure something out. I just wasn't prepared for it to be now, so soon to everything that's about to unfold.

"Why did you lie to Sasuke?" he asked forwardly. I frowned.

"What did I lie about?"

"Everything," he answered. My eyebrows furrowed slightly, almost against my will. "You said that you found your spy when Gaara was six; that would have made you seven. As far as I know, there was only one massacre large enough that year to warrant the attention of an organization like the Akatsuki. Meaning that your spy is Uchiha Itachi. If Itachi is your spy, then you knew about the massacre in advance but didn't do anything to stop it." I saw him pause, daring me to challenge the facts.

"You're absolutely right. I did know that Itachi was planning on killing his entire clan. I'm the one that convinced him to leave Sasuke and Tori alive," I said, only half lying. "You are missing half the story though."

"What half? The part where you let dozens of Konoha citizens and ninjas die?"

"No," I said quietly after a long pause. "The part where Uchiha Itachi was ordered by his superiors to assassinate his family and friends to keep Konoha stable and intact," I said, meeting his eyes as I saw a moment of shock pass through them. He opened his mouth but I continued, cutting him off. "The Uchiha were planning a coup against Hiruzen and the elders. Danzo didn't want to lose a drop of his power so he ordered Itachi to kill almost everyone he cared for. In return, Itachi was promised Sasuke's safety, the most important thing to him. Hinata-chan, Kakashi, and I have been protecting Sasuke and keeping Danzo as far away from him as possible. I made a promise to Itachi that I wouldn't let anything bad happen to Sasuke and I have the curse seal to prove it," I said, lowering my flak jacket to reveal the three commas.

"It wasn't your clone that day, was it?" Shikamaru asked quietly. I shook my head.

"I knew what Itachi was doing. I couldn't let Sasuke come home in the middle of it, nor could I let him go home along that night. If you recall, I was the one that told him that he shouldn't train to kill Itachi, that he should train to prevent something like that from happening again."

"You know how he'll react when he learns the truth about his brother," Shikamaru met my eyes. I sighed.

"I honestly don't know how I'm going to- Shikamaru?" I asked concerned. The Nara swayed, his eyes closed in obvious discomfort. I felt my eyes go wide when he began to fall and I jumped forward to catch him.

I blinked, pushing chakra to my eyes. I glanced at his chakra network, the blue channels fighting what seemed to be themselves. I felt my eyebrows furrow as I studied his body; nothing was physically wrong with him aside from his irregular chakra. I couldn't tell what had caused it, nor did I know how to treat it. Even in the Fourth Great Shinobi War, I hadn't seen anything like this. I put a hand to his forehead; fever, of course. I picked him up, carrying him to the living room. I draped a blanket over him and got a wet rag, placing it over his forehead.

I was considering taking him to the hospital, or at least telling his parents where he was, when the fever broke suddenly and he opened his eyes, coughing and gasping for air. I paused when I saw his eyes; they weren't holding his usual bored expression, they were filled with a wild panic and fear. My eyes narrowed slightly again; I recognized the expression. They were the eyes of a war torn man, just about to die. I'd seen that face more times than I could count on both my friends and my enemies.

"Shikamaru," I said in a low voice. I held out a glass of water. "Are you okay?"

"Naruto-sama?" he asked, still coughing. I pushed the glass of water into his hand, thinking of how to respond. When I didn't answer, the Nara sighed, trying to relax, and drank the water. He met my eyes and I saw the entire war playing inside his head. I took half a step back, not believing what I was thinking.

"When do we take action?" I began warily. Shikamaru gave a small smile.

"When action is needed."

"Why do we take action?"

"To get the woman to leave me alone," he sighed, still smiling. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This was the ANBU code; unique to each ANBU operative and their Hokage. The first question was to confirm that they were ANBU. The second was to confirm which operative. I asked the final question.

"Who do you serve?"

"Rokudaime Hokage, Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto," he smirked lightly. My face broke into a smile and I knelt next to my old friend. I gave him a quick hug- completely dignified considering the circumstances- before slapping the back of his head.

"Damn, this is going make a ridiculous amount of paperwork for me one day."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru smiled. I nodded, chuckling.

"Exactly."

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><p>AN:

SHIKAMARU'S BACK!

See? This is why I had that poll up so long ago! I told you that it'd be important!

Also, when I saw he was smacked on the back of the head, think 'Gibbs-slap', for any of you who watch NCIS.

Aside from that, I'll try to get back to posting at a somewhat regular pace, but no promises for now. I have a lot of stuff going at the moment, but all of it is good, so it's okay. For example, the cast and crew of my high school's musical this year (Little Shop of Horrors) was invited to compete at a festival in South Jersey. By the end of the trip, I'll have spent an ungodly eighteen hours with forty of the most indescribably energetic and amazing people. Secondly, we (the marching band/colorguard) are getting ready for our trip to Hershey! Woo! Note: that is genuine excitement, not sarcasm.

I'll update when possible,

^.^ Susie ^.^


	14. Chapter 14

A/N:

Eep... I haven't update this in nearly three months! Gosh, time flies...

Anyway, I'm really sorry about that... And you might want to go back and reread the last part of the last chapter... In case you forgot what happened... o.o

Jk. It was my fault that you may have forgotten, so I'll put in a bit of recap...

Even though I don't own Naruto...

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><p>~In the last chapter~<p>

I was considering taking him to the hospital, or at least telling his parents where he was, when the fever broke suddenly and he opened his eyes, coughing and gasping for air. I paused when I saw his eyes; they weren't holding his usual bored expression, they were filled with a wild panic and fear. My eyes narrowed slightly again; I recognized the expression. They were the eyes of a war torn man, just about to die. I'd seen that face more times than I could count on both my friends and my enemies.

"Shikamaru," I said in a low voice. I held out a glass of water. "Are you okay?"

"Naruto-sama?" he asked, still coughing. I pushed the glass of water into his hand, thinking of how to respond. When I didn't answer, the Nara sighed, trying to relax, and drank the water. He met my eyes and I saw the entire war playing inside his head. I took half a step back, not believing what I was thinking.

"When do we take action?" I began warily. Shikamaru gave a small smile.

"When action is needed."

"Why do we take action?"

"To get the woman to leave me alone," he sighed, still smiling. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This was the ANBU code; unique to each ANBU operative and their Hokage. The first question was to confirm that they were ANBU. The second was to confirm which operative. I asked the final question.

"Who do you serve?"

"Rokudaime Hokage, Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto," he smirked lightly. My face broke into a smile and I knelt next to my old friend. I gave him a quick hug- completely dignified considering the circumstances- before slapping the back of his head.

"Damn, this is going make a ridiculous amount of paperwork for me one day."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru smiled. I nodded, chuckling.

"Exactly."

~ (Don't ask about the spacing... If it looks cramped, it wasn't my fault... o.o)

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><p><p>

Shikamaru- the Shikamaru I had known for nearly two decades- was now leaning back, his eyes closed as he tried to process the memories rushing through his head. It was disorienting, that much I was sure.

"It's so…" he drifted off, frowning as his eyes opened.

"I know, it's confusing at first. I could do a memory walk for you if you want, to get your timelines set straight. I've already sent a fox to tell your parents that you were going to spend the night," I explained, studying the scroll of instructions I held in my hand.

~Flashback~

"How is- Damn it!" Shikamaru winced, his eyes squeezing shut. He stilled, his thoughts traveling in a jumbled mess, something very unusual for the genius. After a while, he gasped, his eyes snapping open.

"Get me a scroll and something to write with," he ordered, his eyes determined.

Within ten minutes, he was writing away, detailing a ten step process. Instructions for a chakra exhausting but humanly possible time travel jutsu.

~End Flashback~

The only problem with the jutsu was that the one who was traveling back needed to be recently deceased. Of course, that partially explained how Shikamaru, who I had seen die in the Battle For Konoha, had ended up in this timeline. On the other hand, it opened the possibility for the enemy to do the same thing. I had killed Sasuke in that battle. Konoha wouldn't be able to take a direct surprise hit from Sasuke, even without his curse seal.

I glanced down the instructions. The jutsu was simple in theory. It latched onto the desired soul, assuming that they hadn't been sealed away, and connected the body to soul once more, just long enough for the assignment to make it's imprint. Then the soul was pulled away once more and forcibly pushed back in time, propelled by human chakra and the determination of whoever had started the jutsu. The first seven steps were describing the jutsu itself: the necessary seals, detailing exactly how much chakra was needed for the jutsu's success, and so on. The last three were all on what to do before and after activating the timeline.

8. Detail assignment details onto a scroll for the time traveler's mission and place over heart. If properly activated, the instructions will imprint on the target's memories, allowing the target to remember what transpired in their previous life and what they must change.

9. Under no circumstances should the target intervene in events not directly affecting their target event. No events should be altered, stopped, or created on the whim of the target.

10. Be advised that there will be a period of time in which the target will be more or less defenseless. The soul pushed back in time has been known to provoke aggression from the younger but otherwise identical soul. This aggression causes a period of time in which the two separate chakras will fight each other in the same chakra coils. There have been recorded incidents in which the younger chakra has defeated the older soul but no pattern has been detected as of yet.

"So I was sent back to- Oh. I remember," Shikamaru frowned thoughtfully. My head tilted to the side of its own ambition, an old habit I had picked up somewhere during the war.

"What was your assignment?" Shikamaru's eyes darkened but then were filled with confusion. He glanced at his hand, flexing his fingers.

"Sakura. Sakura sent me back," he said, recognizing her lingering chakra. "I got here too late… I was supposed to keep you safe," he chuckled. I rolled my eyes.

"From what? The Akatsuki? I've got them running."

"No," he laughed under his breath before gasping. "You disappeared. Back in the other timeline. That's what made her send me back. My mission was to make sure you didn't die. She thought you died," he said seriously. My eyes narrowed, my concern showing like always.

"But we- We did disappear," I sighed, nodding. "The jutsu we used to come back, the three of us: Hina-chan, Kakashi, and myself. It must have had a longer time window than Kyuu and I thought. It must've been a pretty big window if Sakura managed to put all this together," I said, gesturing to Shikamaru. He smiled, the expression looking somewhat out of place, battling with his still haunted eyes.

* * *

><p>"I'm home!" Hinata-chan announced, closing the front door behind her. I smiled, looking up from my discussion with Shikamaru. The Nara was still having surges of memories, from both timelines, impacting him at random intervals.<p>

"Hey, Hinata-chan! You wouldn't believe who's here!" I called.

"Try me," she said, walking into the room. "Shikamaru?"

"Our Shikamaru," I corrected. I felt a flash of surprise run through our seal before I nodded. She dropped her coat on the couch and rushed- as fast as she could- to hug the ninja. Just like me, she slapped the back of his head.

"Ouch," he pouted, rubbing the back of his head. "Kami, you couldn't be a little happy that I'm not… I don't know, dead?"

"She is happy, that's the hormones talking," I hinted. Shikamaru studied my mate, smiling.

"You're so short," he chuckled. Another slap and Shikamaru decided to keep his mouth shut. "Boy or girl?"

"Twins, two boys," Hinata-chan informed him, grinning before her face darkened. "Say troublesome and I will kill you."

I glanced at Shikamaru, mouthing 'hormones' and he sighed. I only smiled as Hinata-chan began discussing how nicely the wedding plans were coming along after such a short time. Shikamaru closed his eyes for a bit before opening them angrily and throwing a pillow at me.

"You made teme your best man? He's the one that killed me," he growled. I saw the humor in his eyes though.

"Well, you're alive now, aren't you?" I chuckled. "Besides, the Shikamaru of this timeline and I weren't really close. You were a groomsman though. And paired with Temari, if I might add."

"I'm going to kill you, Rokudaime-sama," Shikamaru sighed. "So, where am I?"

"Our place in the Namikaze compound," I shrugged. "Any other questions?"

"… I have a genin team?" he raised an eyebrow, the memories slowly coming back. I nodded.

"Team Three. From what I say, they could use another year in the Academy."

"Is that so, 'Jounin Sensei of Death'?" he said, glancing at his left shoulder. "Okay, I've never been in ANBU… That sucks."

"I'm sure I could pull a few strings if you want in," I shrugged. "Being the Rokudaime candidate does have some perks."

Shikamaru chuckled before wincing, another flood of memories rising to the surface of his mind.

"It'll get easier," I promised. "The most important thing is to remember not to panic when you see people who died in the original timeline."

"Asuma?" Shikamaru smiled, the emotion breaking through his normally stoic features.

"Yep; and judging from my bachelor party, he and Kurenai still have that thing going on," I smirked before getting serious again. "If you want to change that, you should get training. I can't get myself on all the Akatsuki missions, it'll be too suspicious if I keep making myself a target."

"Are you up for a spar? I need to see how much training I need to get done."

"I'd spar with Sasuke if I were you… I haven't exactly been sitting on my ass in this timeline. I'm wearing over four hundred pounds of weights," I smiled a little sheepishly. Shikamaru grinned.

"Nah, you still owe me a spar from the last timeline," he reminded me. I smiled and nodded, remembering.

"I have a clearing in the Forest of Death that I train in. We can go there tomorrow. For now, I sent a fox to your house telling your parents that you're going to spend the night," I informed him.

"Sounds good," he sighed, nodding.

"Anyway, I'll take you to one of the guest rooms.. It's a huge house," I warned. "Like, we only use a third of it, huge."

"I got it," he rolled his eyes, standing from the couch. I led him to the room in just after my study and my own bedroom. I smiled when Shikamaru noted the way back to the living room and kitchen.

"Okay," I said, opening the door to the room. It wasn't very extravagant; a standard bedroom with a desk in one corner and a bed under the window facing the west. "My and Hinata-chan's room is two doors down, knock if you need anything."

"Night," he murmured, walking over to the bed.

"Good to have you back, Shika," Hinata-chan smiled over my shoulder. He waved and I shut the door, yawning. I draped an arm around Hina-chan's shoulders, gently pulling her towards our room.

I didn't realize how exhausting today was until I set my head down on my pillow, my eyes already closing.

"I love you, Naruto-kun," Hinata-chan sighed in my arms. I smiled, half asleep, and pulled her closer.

"Always and everywhere."

* * *

><p>AN:

So yes, the end is a bit fluffy... But I couldn't find a good way to tie it up! So, mushy lovey stuff...

Sorry again for the long delay in updating, but I hoped you liked the chapter anyway! I'll update as soon as I can, but it will probably be early next week... Graduation is on the 20th and, even though I'm not graduating this year, I need to attend it. The school's a capella choir sings, and I'm in the choir... So it's: go to graduation or get kicked out of choir O_O'

Until then,

^.^ Susie ^.^


	15. Chapter 15

A/N:

*so tired*

I don't own Naruto

* * *

><p>"So, basically, I had to help an old friend," I said to my gathered team. I wasn't about to start going into the Akatsuki and their manic goals, that'd only make them feel vulnerable with me as their sensei.<p>

"When can we go on missions?" Miru demanded. I chuckled, nodding.

"Right now," I said, thinking of the weeding, shopping, and dog walking the three genin would soon be doing. "As rookie genin, you'll only be doing D-rank missions for a while, at least until I think you're ready for a C-rank."

"What are we doing?" Fugaku asked pointedly. Hanabi smiled at me in expectation and I almost sighed at the expression, so much like her sister's whenever she wanted something.

"Sorry to let you down, but you're doing some gardening for one of the old women in the village," I shrugged, ignoring Miru's protests and Fugaku's sigh. "Relax, every ninja was stuck doing D-rank missions at some point in his, or her, life. Even Tsunade did her work around the village as a genin," I reminded them. Hanabi only smiled, trying to get Miru to calm down. "When you've finished that, we can get to training. You're going to be training of sorts while you do this mission," I said, taking out three sets of chakra weights. Recognizing them, Fugaku sighed.

"I'm already wearing chakra weights," he announced, pointing at his legs.

"How heavy?"

"25 on each arm, 30 on each leg, and another twenty on my chest."

"Good; add another five pounds to each limb," I ordered. He nodded and closed his eyes in concentration as I turned my eyes to the two kunoichi. "These are chakra weights. They get heavier as you add chakra to them. Not only is this a good way to work on your chakra control, it also makes your body stronger and faster. To start, I want both of you to match Fugaku's weights. It will be a little hard at first but it will seem more natural the longer you wear them."

"How heavy are your weights, sensei?" Hanabi asked. I smiled sheepishly.

"I have eighty on each arm and leg and another sixty on my vest," I chuckled. Miru's eyes widened as she activated her own weights.

"You're wearing more than five times what we are!" Hanabi said, now kneeling from the weight. I smiled, shrugging.

"I've been wearing weights since I was five. I don't really notice the weights anymore," I chuckled, embarrassed by the stares of disbelief I was currently getting from my team. "Anyway, the point is to work with the weights; it will help you get used to them faster."

"We have to work with this? I can barely move," Miru complained. I chuckled.

"Sasuke had to do a hundred sit ups, one hundred push ups, one hundred laps around a clearing the size of a football field, then one hundred punches and kicks with each arm and leg when I first gave him his weights. I'm giving you a break, compared to that," I raised an eyebrow. "We can always just train once you finish this miss-"

"No, no, no," Miru shook her head, smiling nervously.

"That's what I thought," I chuckled, walking away. The three genin followed me, not noticing as I substituted myself for a clone.

I watched the three from a distance, sitting on a rooftop, as they laughed, pulling out the weeds. They seemed to work well together on more menial tasks, but I knew that gardening wasn't a good test. Capturing Tora was a much more demanding mission, especially if you had a fox sealed within you.

My eyes narrowed for a moment as I felt a presence behind me. Recognizing the chakra signature, I relaxed.

"Hey, Shika," I greeted. He moved next to me at the edge of the roof, sighing.

"Your senses look like they stayed the same," he commented. "I just remembered how useless I was in this timeline. I'm not even wearing weights."

"You didn't wear weights for a long time in the first timeline; you only started after the Pain invasion," I reminded him. "Besides, you are a notoriously lazy ninja; get used to it… Where's your team?"

"Trudging back to the Academy, probably. They were too immature," he shook his head. I smiled.

"Is that from a lazy ninja's standpoint or a war veteran's?"

"A little bit of both. Your team looks pretty close."

"Yep; the new Team Seven. It's strange how similar they are to their relatives; Miru wants to be a master of kenjutsu, Hanabi wants to change the Hyuuga clan, Fugaku is textbook prodigy. If I let Sasuke train him earlier I'm sure he'd be a chuunin by now." Shikamaru was silent for a moment, thinking.

"Is Itachi really his father?" he asked, staring at the less defined lines on Fugaku's face, so similar to his father's. I nodded.

"I'm positive. Right before the Uchiha massacre, I got Uchiha Tori away from the compound. She was pregnant and Itachi never knew in the original timeline."

"Does he know now?"

"Bits and pieces. He hasn't seen them but I've talked to him about them. No one in Konoha knows the truth about the massacre, I can't justify taking them to Itachi until they know why he did what he did," I explained. Shikamaru nodded.

"Are you going to tell Sasuke?"

"I have an idea about how to do that. It makes it easier that you're back in this timeline. Now I can take him to Itachi when we go to Ame if we needed to."

"How do you know he won't attack Itachi before he can say anything?"

"Seals. If I can surprise Sasuke, which I should be able to do since he won't expect it, I can put a seal on him that represses chakra. I've been working on it for a while and I'm confident it'll work. If it doesn't, I remember how to do the shadow possession jutsu and I'm sure the two of us could hold him long enough. Last resort, I still remember the Jyuuken from the last timeline."

"Have you used any of our family jutsu in this timeline?"

"I used a Yamanaka jutsu when I was suspected. Inoichi wasn't very happy, but I convinced him to keep it a secret until I was ready to tell everyone what had happened. Other than that, not one."

"So everyone thinks your just powerful?"

"I think so; I was a jounin at twelve. If anyone thinks any-" I stopped talking, my eyes catching a small tan shape slinking towards us. I smiled at the weasel as I saw the scroll in its mouth. The weasel walked to us cautiously, watching Shikamaru. I nodded and smiled and he came closer to me, depositing the scroll in front of me.

"My master wished me to bring you this, Naruto-sama," he said, nodding at the scroll. I smiled at the animal.

"Thank you, Weasel-san. Can you tell him that his son is on my genin team? I'm sure he'd be happy to know. Also, please give him this," I said, hanging the necklace around the weasel's neck. He glanced at the silver weasel charm before nodding. "Tell him that there is a Hiraishin seal on the back; I thought this would be easier to conceal than a Hiraishin kunai."

"Hai," the weasel smiled briefly at me, his eyes warily moving towards Shikamaru, before he turned and ran in the direction he had came from. I picked up the scroll, storing it in a pocket in my Sage coat.

"I'll look at it somewhere a little less… open," I explained. Shikamaru nodded and I went back to watching my team, almost done as my clone lounged on a tree branch above them. Miru stared up at my clone.

"Sensei, when can we get to training?" she complained. My clone laughed under his breath, smiling teasingly at the genin.

"The team is getting started on training tomorrow but we can pick a sword for you today if you want," my clone appeased the girl. Her eyes lit up and she resumed working with a new urgency. When the genin all had their eyes on the garden, I dispelled my clone and took its place. I glanced back at Shikamaru, smirking on the rooftop. He stood and jumped down to the ground, walking to the team.

"D-rank?" he asked my genin. Miru groaned, nodding. I chuckled at her attitude change. "Hey, Naruto."

"Hey, Shika. What's up?"

"I forgot to tell you; Jiraiya-sama is back in the village," he announced. I raised an eyebrow, sitting up against the tree. "Tsunade punched him through another wall," he chuckled.

"Good, he probably deserved it," I smiled back. The genin glanced up at me.

"Jiraiya-sama of the Sannin? What could he have done?" Miru asked, eyebrows furrowed. I remembered that she hadn't met him yet. Hanabi was already used to the Sage's antics; Fugaku didn't care as soon as he realized that Jiraiya wouldn't teach him.

I exchanged a glance with Shikamaru before we both started laughing. That was one of the things I missed most when he died- we laughed about the most random things. When I finally stopped laughing, I was holding my ribs. Miru stared at me, irate.

"What are you laughing at?" she demanded.

"Jiraiya isn't what you might think he is. He's strong, I give him that, but he is probably the most perverted man I've met in my life," I chuckled. Shikamaru nodded in agreement, sighing.

"And he isn't exactly subtle about it," he said, staring out in the direction of the Hokage Tower. He sighed, looking back at me. "I just thought you should know, he's staying at your place."

"Poor Hinata-chan," I pouted. "Is Temari back in the village yet?"

"Yeah, she was looking for me yesterday apparently… Troublesome," he muttered, thinking of the Suna kunoichi. I grinned, remembering the mischief that had filled Temari's eyes whenever I told her where Shikamaru was. "Anyway, I should get going."

"Don't forget our spar later! Take this with you," I shouted, throwing a Hiraishin kunai towards his retreating back. His war reflexes kicked in and he turned at the waist, closing his hand around the hilt as the three pronged kunai flew towards him. He nodded at me and walked away. I glanced back at my genin, all dusting their pants off as they stood from the weeded garden. I smiled at the genin as they moved more naturally than I had seen all afternoon.

"Good work, guys. Take the rest of the day off to get used to the weights and meet me in training ground seven tomorrow morning at eight. Miru, let's see about getting you a sword," I smiled at the kunoichi, jumping down from the tree. The other two genin said their goodbyes before walking together in the direction of the noble district. I began to walk towards Heiki no Senmon, Miru at my right and talking faster than I could follow.

* * *

><p>A small bell announced our entrance, echoing Miru's shout.<p>

"I'm home!"

"Hey, Miru-oneechan," Tenten smiled at her sister. She noticed me and paused for a moment. "Naruto, what are you doing here?"

"I told Miru that I'd help her pick out a sword so we can start on kenjutsu," I smiled at the kunoichi. She nodded, biting her lip.

"Hmm… I think a curved sword…" Tenten said, studying her sister. I nodded.

"I'd say an o-wakizashi," I said, thinking. Seeing the poorly disguised confusion on Miru's face, I smiled. "An o-wakizashi is similar to a standard wakizashi. It's a bit longer, in between a wakizashi and a katana in length, but maintains the curve. It's a lightweight weapon, allowing you to draw it quickly and efficiently."

"You have a katana, right Naruto?" Tenten asked, glancing at the sword on my back. I nodded, unsheathing it.

"Mizuchi," I nodded. "This is my family's blade. I gave the katana I learned with, Kamisora, to Sasuke soon after I found this blade."

"What about your other sword?" Miru asked, blushing slightly. I poked her forehead, remembering that she had taken Raijin no ken at Ichiraku's.

"I'm not going to take that one out," I said, sheathing my katana. I glanced at Tenten. "When we went to ramen before I left to save an old friend, your little sister stole the sword Nidaime-sama entrusted to me at the Oto Invasion." Tenten raised an eyebrow and Miru's blush deepened.

I left the two sisters for a moment, walking deeper into the store. I stopped before the wakizashis, waiting for the two to catch up. I shifted the glass aside, picking up one of the blades. I unsheathed the blade from it's ebony scabbard, twisting the blade to reflect the light. I frowned at it, putting it back. I picked up another blade, testing it's weight as I had the first.

When the two kunoichi found me, I was testing the fourth o-wakizashi. I slid it out of it's sheath and balanced it, smiling.

"Do this a lot?" Tenten chuckled, watching me twist the blade in my hand, small imprints in the metal warping the light. I chuckled, cracking my neck.

"I lived in Iron Country for a month. The first thing I learned was that if your blade didn't fit you the second you picked it up it never would."

"You learned from the samurai?" Tenten asked, her eyes widening. "I thought they didn't teach outsiders their techniques."

"Gaara and I were seven; Mifune-shishou didn't see us as a threat. Also, at that point, we didn't really belong anywhere; I wasn't a Konoha nin and Gaara wasn't welcome in Suna. Now, I think this would be a good blade; try it out, Miru." I passed the ivory hilt to the genin. She gripped it steadily, biting her lip. She twisted her wrist, testing the weight. When she was finished, she smiled at it, just like I had.

"I like it," she announced. I nodded, already knowing that she would.

"You can name it if you want," I shrugged. "An identifiable weapon can be a deterrent to enemy ninjas. I have Mizuchi and Raijin no Ken, Sasuke has Kamisora, Orochimaru had Kusanagi, the White Fang had his white chakra blade, Lady Chiyo had her seven puppets, the Seven Swordsmen each have a named blade, the list goes on."

Miru thought about the blade for a moment, staring at the white hilt and the small hammered indents.

"Are," she murmured. I smiled at the name.

"Hailstorm… I like it. Now, you have two options: you can either take the day off, or we can start kenjutsu today and pick up tomorrow with the others."

"Let's start today," Miru shouted, ecstatic. I winced at the volume. Miru grabbed my wrist, pulling me to the door. I sighed at Tenten, who laughed under her breath.

"Yes, she is always like that," she nodded. I stifled a groan.

* * *

><p>AN:

Sorry for the time it took me to update this, but I'm honestly worried about this story's fate. Every time I sit down to write it, I get either really distracted or I end up staring at a blank screen with absolutely no inspiration. I still have one chapter I'm withholding for now, but if I can't find my muse sometime before September, I'm putting this story up for adoption. It's not fair to leave it hanging. I will, however, update chapter 16 before I do, so look forward to that.

^.^ Susie ^.^


	16. POLL RESULTS

Eep... So, instead of JANUARY 22nd, I ended up updating on FEBRUARY 22nd. Better late than never though, right?

AND THE POLL RESULTS ARE IN.

Actually, they've been in for a long time now but I've just left the poll open so if you voted late, don't sweat it. Also, if you messaged me because you had trouble with the poll and told me what story you wanted me to continue, I've already added those in so don't worry about your voice not being heard.

Results: (# of Votes)

Older, Wiser, Stronger (123)

Return of the Kiiroi Kitsune 70)

Another Shot (47)

A Survivor's Tale (37)

Role Reversal (34)

Thicker than Water (24)

Rose Lupin GOF (16)

Rose Evans (16)

Becoming Beloved (14)

Athena's Hearts (11)

In case it wasn't obvious enough, the top three choices are Older, Wiser, Stronger (Bleach), Return of the Kiiroi Kitsune (Naruto), and Another Shot (Avatar: TLA).

Congrats if the story you wanted made the cut, sorry if it didn't. Again, I can't promise any regular updates or anything definite like that but I want you to know that I will be thinking of them and trying to track down whatever elusive plot bunny inspired me to write them in the first place.

Again, sorry about the delay but you all know I'm a mess with deadlines by now.

Until next time,

Sue ^.^


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